Johan Nel's eysesight

[ic2]

I think everyone has read messages from Johan Nel in comp.lang.... He has done the Vulcan support for Vulcan for a while. We visited him in 2016 in South Africa and discussed a lot of interesting things about which I probably expand later. This weekend I called him and he told me that due to a bacteria in his nerve system, caused by complications with an infected tonsil, eventually (when it was finally diagnosed correctly) resulted in his eyesight being reduced to only 10%. He is no longer able to work.

Terrible.

There is a theoretical chance that it could improve but the chance is slim.

Johan asked me to write this in the forum. Before this all happened he already planned to stop supporting Vulcan and he wanted to offer his help for X#. I've promised him to keep him posted from time to time and maybe he can still share his ideas.

Dick

[Chris]

Thanks for the info Dick, Johan had told me about this some months ago, sad to learn he did not manage to cure this. I will send him an email, I assume even if he cannot read them, his family must be reading them to him.

Chris

[rjpajaron]

Thanks for the info Dick, Johan had told me about this some months ago, sad to learn he did not manage to cure this. I will send him an email, I assume even if he cannot read them, his family must be reading them to him.

Chris

This is sad news.

In addition to eye sight, our hands (all ten fingers) are the most important part of the body that our brain need in order for us to write code.

Me too, I have some problems with eyesight might probably due to tiredness or my eye glass need some replacement which sadly only 6 months did I make an upgrade to it.

Next problem that I have is my fingers. I can feel it pain sometimes.

I wished Johan wellness. He is one of the group "propagandist" of PostgreSQL in a world full of SQL Server and Sybase.

Regards,

Rene

[wriedmann]

Hi Dick,

Johan told me some time ago about his eyes problems, and since I heard not anything from him, a few months ago I wrote him a mail asking about his eyesight, but I received no answer anymore, and therefore I thought that in fact his problems were not solved.

If he has financial problems because of his illness, we could organize to help him a bit.

I wish him the the best, and think often about him - please let him know that if you call him someday.

Wolfgang

[FFF]

Folks,
this indeed is terrible news.

Dick, if you are in contact with Johan:
I don't know SA' structures, but i'd hope there is an organisation similiar to here in Germany for the blind. After he's over the initial shock, he should contact them for possibilities to reorganize his life.
One of my oldest friends is a qualified piano tuner, holds courses about old music and architecture, writes books, communicates via email, visits and works in many countries etc. etc. - and has for more than 30 years only 10% on one eye left. So, there's life even after such a blow. But he should search for qualified help.

All the best
Karl

[ic2]

Thanks for all the messages. I just called Johan to read them all. He asked me to thank you for the good words & thoughts and also the offer for help. Fortunately he was insured for labor incapacity. It shows that the VO/Vulcan/X# community differs from many others - people are much more involved.

I promised to keep him posted and call him again if others react here too and also about anything around X# which interests him. He hopes for some recovery, which is possible after all.

Dick

[TerryB1]

Hi Dick

Please pass on to Johan my best wishes.

It is some time now since I was in contact with him directly (back in early VO times) but we had some interesting and useful exchanges of information.

>It shows that the VO/Vulcan/X# community differs from many others - people are much more involved. - I totally agree and its value should not be under-estimated..

Terry