Look: Durban pupil raises funds for leukemia awareness
Durban- A Durban school pupil has raised R20 000 for the South African Bone Marrow Registry in his fight to raise awareness about leukemia.
Skye Meaker is not your average teenager - last year he won the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year award for his portrait of a leopard.
And in January, he was the youngest speaker invited to address delegates at the World Economic Forum annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, when he shared the stage with legendary wildlife activist Jane Goodall MBE.
Skye Meaker's award-winning photograph entitled "Lounging Leopard" PHOTO: skyemeaker.com
He has been using his newfound opportunities since then to continue to raise awareness about the conservation of wildlife in Africa, but also to raise awareness about leukemia after a friend was diagnosed with the disease for the third time.
Meaker has been able to raise money through speaking engagements to corporates about wildlife conservation.
He first discovered that close friend Robbie Eddles was sick when he was in Davos to speak to delegates in January. "I got the message to say Robbie has got leukemia for the third time. It's a miracle that he's still alive but it's so hard to know that my friend is having to go through all of this again. He went through a lot of treatment and is coming out of it now and he's in the last leg of the race. Its been an emotional journey for him and us."
Meaker is in Cape Town to address delegates at the World Economic Forum on Africa this week.
The grade 11 learner hopes to show people the beauty of nature through his photographs and thereby inspire them to make positive changes in the world.
"If I can spark something inside of someone, then they can go willingly and make a change, because people won't make a change if they're not passionate about it, so if I can give them that little bit of a push to realise this is what we have on our doorstep, let's protect it, then I think I've done my job."