Chronicle Editor
Flora Fadzai Sibanda – [email protected]
A FIFTEEN-year-old boy, Lovemore Munashe Mavushe, from Bulawayo’s Tshabalala suburb whose leg was amputated in 2019 had a double celebration on Independence Day as he also had a belated birthday commemoration.
Lovemore, a Form Two pupil at Mpopoma High School who wants to be an orthopaedic surgeon, someone who is devoted to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles, said living with a disability has never been a stumbling block for him as he does everything that his “able-bodied” peers are doing in their lives.
While celebrating his birthday at home, Lovemore said even though he was born on April 13, he decided to celebrate his birthday on Independence Day as a prosthetic leg he now uses has given him his own kind of freedom.
He said he was 10 years old when he told his mother he wanted his leg to be amputated because he was tired of the pain he was going through.
With an amputated right leg and walking with the aid of crutches, in 2021, Lovemore defied all odds when he came first in a 5km race at Maphisa Primary School in Sizinda.
“I don’t remember much of my childhood and the day I hurt myself but my memory only takes me as far as somewhere in 2017 to 2018 when my leg was getting rotten daily and I would see the bones sticking out. My mother used to try by all means to make sure my leg got better and I was not amputated but because this is how it was supposed to be I knew I had to let go of the leg and I asked her to let the doctors remove it,” said Lovemore.
He said he hopes to be an orthopaedic surgeon one day.
His mother, Ms Emerenzian Shumba said her son was born with both legs but had his right leg amputated in 2019 following a freak accident which still saddens her. -@flora_sibanda
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