70-year-old man appealing for US$800 for medical expenses

Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Health Reporter
A 70-YEAR-OLD man from Esigodini is appealing to well-wishers to help him raise US$800 for medical fees.
Mr Shadreck Ndlovu has been living with an obstructed urinary tract for the past nine years, a condition which saw him selling 21 head of cattle in an attempt to rectify the problem.

The peasant farmer has been in and out of hospitals in Bulawayo and South Africa with no luck.

So far he has had two surgeries but the obstruction still persists and has affected his mobility.

Narrating his ordeal to Chronicle yesterday, Mr Ndlovu said he was struggling to sleep due to excruciating pain he feels whenever his bladder fills up.

“I developed an obstructed urinary tract in 2013 and have done everything in my power to get help. I once sold cows to raise medical fees to go to South Africa where an operation was done to help me pass urine,” he said.

“For some time the system was in place until I went to local doctors and they did another surgery which however, left me with damaged nerves. Since that day I have been in pain, I rarely walk or sleep and unfortunately I can no longer pay for medical attention.”

Mr Ndlovu said his children are all late and he can no longer work in their field to raise money.

“I urgently need a re-insertion of suprapubic catheter but doctors at the United Bulawayo Hospitals have indicated that I need a scan to determine the extent of the condition as I was diagnosed in 2013,” he said.

He last had a scan in South Africa and has been told that locally it can be done in Harare.

“Unfortunately I have used all I had trying to seek medical attention and cannot afford to go to Harare for the needed scan. Doctors at UBH said the surgery can be done free of charge as I am of age but they need to know how the condition has progressed before anything is done,” said Mr Ndlovu .

“I desperately need about US$800 to travel to Harare and do the scan so that I can lead a normal life. It’s been years of failing to walk or sleep and whenever I travel I must sit closer to a toilet as I easily soil myself, I can no longer take the pain. Sometimes these tubes block and I bleed profusely, which leaves me in so much pain.”

Mr Ndlovu said he can be contacted on 0772478206 and is living with his brother at House number 10 Sicklebush Road in Thorngrove. — @thamamoe