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07 February 2018 Photo Adri Louw
KovsieFM programme manager joins SuperSport as field reporter
Sam Ludidi.

Sam Ludidi is no unfamiliar face on campus. He is currently busy with his second year of a BA Communication Science degree but started off as a BSocSc student five years ago. This KovsieFM programme manager recently joined the SuperSport team as a field reporter. He was selected from 70 candidates and recalls the phone call he received as the best he ever got. We checked in with him to see how he was enjoying the limelight.

It is difficult to choose between television and radio ... I think I prefer television. Then again, there’s a certain skill you need for radio because people don’t see you – that challenge intrigues me. But since I’m an expressive person, television allows me to express myself in full view of the audience.

Sport is my true passion, without a shadow of a doubt. I was born and raised in a sports-crazy house and always loved it – even watching the Proteas’ unfortunate loss to Australia in the Cricket World Cup when I was four. I’ve always loved cricket, but I just cannot keep myself away from rugby. Between the two sports, I’d probably lean towards rugby from an off-the-field perspective, and cricket if I’m on the field.

“You only have one chance
to make it work.”
—Sam Ludidi
Supersport Field Reporter

The best and worst thing about being a television presenter is that it is live. You only have one chance to make it work. When I get it right, I feel great, but on a difficult day, I am hard on myself. I’m still somewhat new to television, but the trick is to find out what makes me different from the rest. My character and charisma make me stand out.

I still can’t believe ... that I am doing my dream job, and it almost came out of nowhere. My incredible support structure from since before my TV presenter job still sticks with me. I learnt from my mother to glorify God with the work that I do, I know that He’s opened many doors which led to this and I cannot express just how blessed I am.

News Archive

Doctors make history with unique heart operation
2012-04-04

 

Cardiologists at the university delivered the first Melody pulmonary valve in Africa.
Photo: Evert Kleynhans
30 March 2012

Academics of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State made history in Africa once again this week with the implant of a special pulmonary heart valve.

“Today we are extremely proud Free State citizens,” Prof. Stephen Brown and Dr. Danie Buys from the UFS Department of Paediatrics and Child Health said after they placed the Medtronic Melody pulmonary valve in two young patients at the Universitas hospital in Bloemfontein.

This is the first time in Africa that the Melody valve is placed.

To date there are currently only 3 000 of these valves place in the world.

“It feels incredible to be part of a team of experts from the faculty.”

The Medtronic Melody valve is delivered percutaneously through a catheter from the groin. This operation is for children and young adults who are born with a malformation of their pulmonary valve.

These children often require open-heart surgery at a very young age and later require additional open-heart surgeries to restore blood flow between the heart and the lungs.

Prof. Brown said that of all congenital diseases, heart disease is most common. A lot of children born with heart disease are diagnosed very late and many die without ever receiving specialised care.

In 2011, Prof. Brown and two other cardiologists from the UFS, Prof. Hennie Theron en Dr JP Theron also reached a medical milestone when they were the first cardiologists in South Africa to do a second generation Medtronic CoreValve implant on an elderly patient.
 

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