On 19th March Shelley-Anne Taylor, wife of chief marshal Tony and member of the Kyalami Marshals Association, had a severe stroke whilst working in race control at the Wesbank Raceway, at Gosforth in South Africa.
Since then she has been listed as critical but stable, and has been rested in hospital whilst the doctors waited for her blood pressure to lessen before they are able to operate on the burst blood vessel in her brain.
This operation was originally scheduled for 6th April, but she has responded well, and now the surgery will be taking place tomorrow (1st) at 7AM UK time. The procedure will last between 4 and 6 hours, and obviously everyone is on tenderhooks to see that Shelley comes through this successfully.
Whilst most people here will not have worked with Shelley-Anne or Tony, I know from my own circumstances that it is times like this that the marshalling fraternity pulls together to support each other. Therefore, I am suggesting that emails be sent through, via the links on the KMA website (
www.kma.org.za).
The KMA marshals themselves will be showing solidarity with Shelley in an unusual way in order to raise money. In preparation for the operation, they will be shaving Shelley's head, and therefore the marshals have decided that they also either have their hair shaved off or pay a R20 fine at their meeting on Saturday! This money is required because, whilst the illness occurred at a motorsport venue, it wasn't a motorsport accident and therefore the insurance policy covering officials doesn't cover this type of event.
I hope you will support a fallen colleague and her husband through what will be a most difficult time.
Steve