CLINIC IN FOCUS: Milpark Hyperbaric Foundation | Best Publishing Company

Last November I was asked to write an article for Best Publishing Company about my involvement with Milpark Hyperbaric.  Best Publishing publishes the magazine Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine (WCHM).  Here is the article (p.13), which was published in the magazine's Winter 2018 edition:

This summer I sponsored a campaign to raise funds for the Milpark Hyperbaric Foundation.  Some might wonder why a Canadian musician would be interested in doing this for a facility in Johannesburg, some 13,000 km away.   

 I had hyperbaric oxygen therapy myself because of internal radiation burns, following treatment for prostate cancer.  As I live in Toronto, after extensive research I chose to have my treatment at the Judy Dan Research and Treatment Centre. It’s an achievement for any organization to be able to combine professionalism with friendly empathy, and the Judy Dan Centre does that superbly.

One of the professionals at the Judy Dan Centre is Daniel Gericke, who, fortunately for me, has become a good friend.  Among his many qualities is modesty about his achievements, and so it took me over three years before I discovered that he was instrumental in bringing about the creation of the much needed Milpark Hyperbaric facility.  The facility provides treatment to patients whether or not they can afford to pay for it.

 Because of Johannesburg’s need for hyperbaric facilities, because of Daniel’s involvement and because of the success I had had with HBOT in healing internal radiation burns, it was a no brainer for me to join those who are raising funds for Milpark.

 Apart from donating funds, posting write-ups about Milpark, and soliciting donations, as I am a musician, composer and film score writer, another way I plan to help is to contribute my music – specifically DVDs of short films with my music – as a thank you to other donors to Milpark.  One such film that would be a natural because of its association with Africa is Change for Chimps, featuring Jane Goodall.  It tells the story of a young girl, who discovers how chimpanzees have been mistreated (hardly a strong enough word) and vows to do something about it, eventually making a presentation to her hero, Jane Goodall.

 Along the way, all of us have been helped by those we can never repay.  In such cases, I have always liked the idea that “passing it on,” helping out someone else that needs help, is a way of saying thank you.  Supporting Milpark Hyperbaric is a way of doing that. 

 As the young girl, Kendra, states in Change for Chimps, “Dr. Jane Goodall says that you don’t have to change the whole world.  You only have to change one little piece of it, and if I make a difference here and you make a difference there, all our pieces will come together and our world will be a better place.”