Athlete Alyssa Conley's dream was to make a come beck on track for the 2024 Olympic Games and and now those dreams have been shattered due to an injury and lack of funds for adequate treatment. Alyssa blames Cardova Productions, producers of a reality show Tropika Island of Treasure owned by Patience Stevens. This is after She says she nearly lost her leg while shooting the reality show.

MORE SERIOUS THAN A DISLOCATION

The Olympian was shooting the 10th season, which currently airs on SABC3 on Saturdays, when the incident happened. According to Alyssa, they were no safety precautions and contestants were not given enough time to prepare before the challenge started. "I got into the water my foot got stuck. It couldn't come out and as a result I snapped my patella (knee-cap) off'.  She says the doctor was called come and assist but, according to Alyssa ,the doctor wanted to pop her knee back in believing it was just a dislocation but she quickly suggested to the doctor to take her out of the water  as she believed the injury was more serious than dislocation.

CHECKING UP ON HER

Alyssa believes they were not prepared for serious injuries on set. "`To be honest, I don't think Cardova or Tropika were prepared for an injury of my magnitude because I laid in the water for a minute before they realised it was serious. The production manager came to assist while the challenge still continued, even though it was not live TV. " Although they never called an ambulance, after 20 minutes of trying to get different taxis, they finally rushed her to hospital with her leg up outside the windows. She says the 40 minute drive to the hospital was the worst trip ever because of the pain she had to endure.
At the hospital, "when I asked for crutches or a wheelchair I was told that I needed to buy them from my own pocket and the production company did not bother to even offer to buy them for me. Instead they drove her back to the hotel and borrowed old crutches from the hotel which were old ".
To make things worse, Alyssa says, they did not even bother to change her room  which  was on the second floor to accommodate her injuries, she had to climb up the stairs on the own.
" I was left in the room for a couple of hours, fresh from the hospital without any food or even pain killers.' Alyssa says she had to rely on other fellow contestants for help especially when it came to bringing her food while production company did not bother to even check up on her, until the next day."

CONDITION GETS WORSE

Alyssa says it was only after noticing that her condition was worsening, that they arranged for her to go home and by then she was in so much pain that she could not walk and her leg was double the size it was. She accuses the company of promising to cover her medical bills and repay her for whatever she had spent towards her injuries but changed their tune as soon as she landed in SA.
" I went to the best doctors thinking they going live up to their promise but instead they wrote me a mail asking about my medical aid. To make things worse they are no longer responding to my messages. I have huge medical bills I have been trying to pay on my own.' The 31-year-old went to the 2016 Olympic Games and was planning a come back to race next year March in the quest of qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games but she might never realise this dream.
ZImoja asked the SABC to comment and their publist, Caroline Phalakatshela said, "Whilst we regret that Alyssa injured herself running into the water, we find her comments on social media to be both false and defamatory. We are taking legal advice in this regard.'

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