Matrics celebrating after receiving their results. Picture: Damaris Helwig
Despite being the sole survivor in a car crash that took his whole family, a Durban pupil managed to pass his matric.
Luke Lotter, 17, of Crawford International College, was involved in a tragic car accident when he was in Grade 1. All the family members died and he was left paralysed from the waist down.
Luke was very happy and proud of himself for having made it this far despite the challenges he encountered. The young man said sport and having supportive friends helped him to cope with matric exam stress.
“When exams became stressful and deadlines started looming, my friends were always there to support me and at times I would go play basketball just to get my mind off things. I can say a strong support system and sport helped me a lot to stay focused,” he said.
According to his Drama teacher Miss Pippa McHale, Luke was an inspiration to other learners and teachers at school.
“When he came to the school in 2021 he had to change subjects to drama studies and he did exceptionally well, especially in the practicals,” said McHale.
Despite his disability, Luke participated in sport and he was a Vice-Captain for Taylor House. He took part in parasurfing, archery and wheelchair basketball. He was awarded full colours for representing South Africa under-23s.
He said he was looking forward to studying at the International Chefs Association in Cape Town.
Another pupil, Dylan Kruger, of King David Linksfield, managed to attain a whopping 99% in mathematics with a 91.8% aggregate.
According to his teachers, Dylan was very naughty in Grade 8. He was in the wrong crowd of friends and really didn’t care much for work or school life. However, in Grade 10 he decided that he wanted to work and to be the best he could be, and his marks soared.
Dylan, who said he was not expecting this much, added that he was inspired by how the school celebrated top achievers and prefects.
“Over the years the school has been celebrating top achievers and all the prefects. When I saw this happening I got inspired and decided to change and focus in school.
“I was smart even in my early grades of high school, but I was not too serious about school, but now I am self-motivated. To the matric class of 2022 everyone is capable, just work as hard as you can and you shall see good results,” he added.
The 17-year-old will be studying actuarial science at Wits this year.
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