four months later , he was finally discharged , but without his sight , he could not return to work .
On the question as to why Newman could not continue to work , Bill explains that back in the 1980s when his father lost his sight , there were no personal computers . In the legal world – where even the simplest of cases requires reams of typed reports and documentation – this meant that his father had no tool that would allow him to continue to work .
“ Losing my ability to read , was one of the most difficult things to come to terms with ,” says Newman .
Newman had to close his legal practice and spend the rest of what would have been his working career , at home .
Losing your sight and your ability to work , would – for most people – mean serious financial hardship .
Thanks to PPS , this was not the case for the Newman family .
“ I met a financial adviser as a student . During my final year of legal studies , he recommended I become a member of PPS . I remember I still asked him how this could be done as I was not practicing yet , but still studying . He told me about student membership and that is how my life-long relationship with PPS started ,” he recalls .
Newman became a full member in 1978 and also added Profmed as medical aid to his portfolio .
Following the accident in 1987 , Newman submitted a Permanent Disability claim , and received his monthly pay out until he retired . During these years , he remained a PPS member and paid his monthly premium towards his retirement policy , totalling R252 492.43 over the years .
Because he continued paying towards a qualifying PPS product – apart from receiving his salary every month from PPS – he also continued to earn Profit-Share allocations until he retired .
“ We were very pleased to receive the letter from PPS informing my father that he was a PPS Profit-Share millionaire shortly before his retirement . Once retired , this allowed him to buy a unit in a retirement village ,” says Bill .
“ If you do the calculations , you see that he not only earned back all the money he paid in premiums through his Profit- Share pay out , but an additional R750 000 . That is a good return on investment ,” says Bill .
When asked how the accident impacted on his life , Bill just smiles .
“ I was only four years old when it happened . I can remember very little . What I can remember is that as a child I always thought it was so odd that both parents of other children at school had to work , yet mine were always home and always available ( Newman ’ s wife was a homemaker even prior to the accident ).
“ Because we never had any financial troubles , my sister and I had happy childhoods . My parents even paid for both our initial tertiary qualifications . I often joke and say that I am a ‘ PPS baby ’ because it was thanks to PPS that our family could be that , a family .”
Newman ’ s advice to young people ?
“ Get insurance , from the moment you can . And medical aid . Medical aid is very important ,” he stresses .
Although not through PPS ( because the company at that stage did not offer the products ), he had short-term insurance and even business assurance at the time of the accident and thereafter .
The business assurance helped to close his practice without any financial drawbacks for him or his partner .
Now , almost four decades after that dreadful day , the sorrow the accident caused in Newman ’ s life is clear , but so is the tight bond between him and his son . The numerous references to good memories from Bill ’ s childhood are also testament to how – deciding as a young student to become a member of PPS – not only saved Newman ’ s life , but also his and his family ’ s livelihoods .
* The member and his son prefer to remain anonymous .
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