HOPE THROUGH THE TEARS

Her mother has dementia and her brother died unexpectedly last year but somehow, through it all, former Miss SA Jo-Ann Strauss finds reasons to be positive and seek joy

- MARELIZE GRBICH

TO OUTSIDERS, her life can seem pretty perfect – she’s an international businesswoman, she’s happily married, she has four lovely children and she’s as groomed and glamorous as ever.

But when former Miss South Africa Jo-Ann Strauss opens up about her private world it’s clear that, like everyone else, life is a combination of heady highs and devastating lows.

She knows she has a lot to be grateful for but there’s the heartache of her 65-year-old mom Ingrid’s dementia.

Over the past seven years, Jo-Ann has watched helplessly as the mother she loves and admires has withdrawn into a different world and become almost a stranger to her.

The only comfort is Ingrid seems happy and calm most of the time.

Then in December last year Jo-Ann’s younger brother, Heinrich (36), died suddenly. He’d had issues with his digestive system and went into septic shock. Doctors operated but he never gained consciousness after surgery.

It’s been traumatic for Jo-Ann (41) and turned her world upside down but she’s chosen to look on the bright side. “There were a few challenging months after my brother died – it felt like a part of me had died,” she says. “But now it feels like another part has been reborn. I feel almost more alive than before because I ’ve seen how quickly things can change.”

It’s all about embracing life, she believes – something Jo-Ann has plenty of experience in. After she was crowned Miss SA in 2000, at the age of 19, she went on to present lifestyle TV shows Pasella and Top Billing, was the runner-up in Celebrity Big Brother SA and in 2010 co-hosted German TV network ZDF’s coverage of the Fifa Soccer World Cup.