Quaid helps to start fund for Namibian children 

A MEDICAL trust fund for underprivileged Namibian children has been set up thanks to the generosity of Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid.

Quaid, who this week finished working on the feature film ‘Flight of the Phoenix’ in the Namib Desert, donated N$125 000 to a 17-month-old baby boy from Walvis Bay who had to undergo an urgent heart operation. Little Solly Brendel was flown to Cape Town earlier this month, but sadly passed away two days after the operation.”We only used about N$30 000 of the money donated by Quaid, and decided to start the Solly Brendel Trust Fund with the rest of the money,” said a paediatrician at Swakopmund who had approached the Hollywood actor for assistance.According to the doctor, who preferred not to be named, Quaid was very helpful.Quaid told The Namibian in an interview shortly after his arrival in November last year that he believed in charity and giving back “because I have so much”.He said then that he wanted to start a long-term relationship with a local charity.After the Swakopmund doctor approached him, he organised, through a charity he works with regularly, to work with the Solly Brendel Trust Fund.International Hospitals for Children, which operates mostly in Latin America, offered to pay for a child from Namibia to go to South Africa every two months for an operation.This can amount to as much as N$75 000, according to the doctor.Quaid, who has a pilot’s licence, flies children from Latin America whenever he can.The fund works closely with a cardio thoracic specialist and his team in Cape Town.Air Namibia has offered to fly children needing heart surgery to Cape Town free of charge.”Quaid did not want any press coverage, but I felt we had to thank him and Air Namibia and decided to wait until he has left the country to announce the creation of the fund,” the doctor told The Namibian.She said anyone who would like to make a donation to the fund could contact Alexia at Standard Bank, Swakopmund at telephone number 064 – 412 500.Little Solly Brendel was flown to Cape Town earlier this month, but sadly passed away two days after the operation.”We only used about N$30 000 of the money donated by Quaid, and decided to start the Solly Brendel Trust Fund with the rest of the money,” said a paediatrician at Swakopmund who had approached the Hollywood actor for assistance.According to the doctor, who preferred not to be named, Quaid was very helpful.Quaid told The Namibian in an interview shortly after his arrival in November last year that he believed in charity and giving back “because I have so much”.He said then that he wanted to start a long-term relationship with a local charity.After the Swakopmund doctor approached him, he organised, through a charity he works with regularly, to work with the Solly Brendel Trust Fund.International Hospitals for Children, which operates mostly in Latin America, offered to pay for a child from Namibia to go to South Africa every two months for an operation.This can amount to as much as N$75 000, according to the doctor.Quaid, who has a pilot’s licence, flies children from Latin America whenever he can.The fund works closely with a cardio thoracic specialist and his team in Cape Town.Air Namibia has offered to fly children needing heart surgery to Cape Town free of charge.”Quaid did not want any press coverage, but I felt we had to thank him and Air Namibia and decided to wait until he has left the country to announce the creation of the fund,” the doctor told The Namibian.She said anyone who would like to make a donation to the fund could contact Alexia at Standard Bank, Swakopmund at telephone number 064 – 412 500.