VN February 2023

Vetnuus | Februarie 2023 30 One of the most beloved veterinarians in Hermanus, Dr Sandy, died on 16 December after a long and brave battle with cancer. Sandra Hepburn-Brown (neeWaddingham) came to Hermanus 35 years ago as a young vet and joined the practice of Drs Andrew Southey and Pierre Hugo. She brought with her a very different mindset. Sandy was born in 1958, the youngest of 5 children to parents with an alternative lifestyle – an adventurous engineering father and a curious mother who was a keen naturalist. From the age of about five, Sandy wanted to be a veterinary surgeon and only briefly considered another career – to be a fairy and help Jesus put the stars in the sky. After qualifying, she was obliged to pay off a government loan and went to work in Grahamstown, where she found a very caring community. Once the year was up, she went into practice in East London and was also the Animal Welfare vet. There she received an offer to work in England. This journey would be her first time away from her family, and she was bemused by English etiquette. She had the opportunity to work with horses for the first time and surprisingly enjoyed it. When the opportunity arose to work in Port Elizabeth in a mixed practice, she jumped at it. When a new veterinary drug came out, she would investigate it thoroughly before she used it. If possible, she would use all- natural remedies. In 1984 she met the good-looking stipendiary steward, David Hepburn-Brown, at the racecourse where she was the vet and he, her boss. It didn’t take long for the two of them to get together, and when he was suddenly transferred to Cape Town, she followed him and found herself again working with small animals. Once they were married, they moved to Durban, where she couldn’t find a position as a clinical veterinarian, so she went to work at the abattoir. It was an eye-opener. Soon after, she found she was pregnant with her first daughter. They bought a farm in Tesselaarsdal with partners and farmed dairy and sheep. It was here that she joined the practice in Hermanus. Hermanus suited her temperament – it had no airs and graces, and she met characters like Tiny Cloete and Marjorie Wallace, who were also quite alternative. It was a lot of fun being a vet in Hermanus then. It was also the time when her second daughter was born. Eventually, she took over the practice and moved from the Industrial Area to a house opposite the primary school. Sandy had the practice for 30 years and had many loved and trusted colleagues, including Jennifer MacKenzie, her right-hand woman as a veterinary nurse. IN MEMORY OF DR SANDYWADDINGHAM 05/08/1959 – 16/12/2022 Hermanus mourns the passing of Dr Sandy