Rachel Kolisi has shared a recovery update after undergoing shoulder surgery on Monday, 18 May, reassuring her followers with what she called a proof of life video posted to her Instagram Stories. She noted, with characteristic self-awareness, that she had timed it for when she was off pain medication — just to ensure nothing interesting came out of her mouth.
“All is well,” she said. “I’m going to attempt a shower today.” The update was warmly received by followers who had been concerned after she was hospitalised the previous week.
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Setting the record straight on the photos
Rachel also took a moment to apologise for a photograph she had shared during her hospital stay, which she felt had come across as more dramatic than she had intended. The image was meant to capture a sweet moment — her children giving her a facial while she recovered — but she acknowledged the framing had not conveyed that.
“I’m really sorry that I put that second picture because it does look way more dramatic than what it needed to be, but I was just trying to show something sweet,” she explained.
Gratitude and recovery
In a Reel shared on Instagram, Rachel reflected on her first week post-surgery with the kind of grounded honesty her followers have come to expect from her. “Obviously not ideal. But it is what it is,” she wrote. “Made it through the first week post op, only because I have the most amazing people around me.”
She went on to thank everyone who had shown up in practical ways — calls, lifts, meals, school runs and homework help — before signing off simply: “We move.”
Rachel is a mother to Nicholas, 11, and Keziah, 9, whom she shares with estranged husband Siya Kolisi. She also raised Siya’s two younger siblings, Liyema and Liphelo, after legally adopting them together. Her recovery, as with much of her life this past year, is being navigated with the people who matter most close by.
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Featured Image: Instagram
