Help Joshua Walk Again: Chef’s Fight After Illness

My name is Joshua Robinson. I’m 24 and I’ve always dreamed of being a chef. Cooking is my passion and my future. For three years I studied at CTIA Stellenbosch and trained in fine-dining kitchens (Mertia and Dusk). In 2023 I won the Lancewood Young Star Pastry Chef of the year, which took me to France. I came home inspired and ready to start my culinary career.

Then in August 2024, my life changed. I became very ill and was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis with features of Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) – a rare condition attacking my spinal cord. Overnight, I went from standing in a kitchen to lying in an ICU, fighting for my life. I spent 42 days on a respirator due to a collapsed lung, followed by 3 months in rehab and two years of therapy to relearn how to move at all. I had to leave Stellenbosch and my final exams behind and move home, my dream on hold.

 My left leg became pretty much paralyzed and my right leg was weak. There were dark moments when I thought my dream might be gone forever.

But I refused to give up. With faith, family support and relentle...