RYK NEETHLING has always impressed me – and I’m not talking about that gorgeous body of his. Even after several years on South Africa’s celebrity A-list and being a firm favourite with autograph hunters all over, he’s still just Ryk: down to earth, a little shy and an all-round decent guy.

And if you ask him about his younger sisters – exceptional people in their own right – his face lights up with brotherly pride. No wonder they’re so crazy about their Rykie!

It’s the first time in 13 years a magazine or newspaper has photographed the three together. And there are good reasons why we were so keen to feature them in YOU Pulse: every Neethling child is a champion in his or her own right; true role models to all of us.

Ryk is rightly famous for his countless swimming records and has a trophy chest full of medals. Jean-Marié is also an excellent swimmer while Elsje, the lower-profile middle child, probably has the strongest fighting spirit of all three. Her battle against cancer in her teens has been Ryk’s inspiration for many years.

It’s not just the Neethlings who illustrate the importance of family ties. Every year more than 200 people with kidney disease get a new lease on life thanks to a transplant. In up to 80 of the cases it’s because someone – usually a family member – was willing to donate a kidney.

On page 22 we talk to four people who didn’t hesitate to save the life of a sibling or child. The drama of a kidney transplant took on a further dimension on the day of our photo shoot. As luck would have it the transplant nearly got Eskomed. The emergency power supply was too unstable to go ahead with the op and the poor matron ran around in crisis-control mode. Fortunately in the end the transplant could take place.

Hope you enjoy this issue but before I sign off another anecdote from behind the scenes at YOU Pulse. It’s one thing to count sheep in bed but getting sheep to flock around a bed for a special picture, as dreamt up by Petro du Toit, is quite another. Journalist Betina Louw, photographer Johan Wilke, two assistants and two shepherds tried their level best but the sheep refused to cooperate.

Every time Johan and co tried to herd the sheep together they’d rush straight past the bed. Only after the team had packed up and no one was interested in the sheep any longer did they start grazing happily around the bed . . .

Wonder what Petro is planning for the next issue of YOU Pulse!

Esmarè