Chronicle Editor
Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
WITH pain filled on her face, Ms Chengetai Ngwenya narrated how her nine-year-old daughter has been left with one arm after being hit by a commuter omnibus on her way to school.
Her daughter, Delish Munkuli, a Grade 3 pupil at Nkulumane Primary School, faces the prospect of having her right leg amputated if another surgery is not performed.
Her family is now seeking assistance to pay her medical bills and a wheelchair to use when she is discharged from hospital.
The girl was hit by a kombi in Mpopoma suburb two weeks ago while on her way to school.
Ms Ngwenya was notified by the driver of the kombi who called her telling her the child was being ferried to United Bulawayo Hospitals where she is still admitted.
She said because of her injuries, doctors decided to amputate her right arm.
The girl is expected to undergo another surgery to support her right leg to avoid amputating it.
In an interview, Ms Ngwenya said the accident has left her shattered as a mother and she does not know how she is supposed to comfort her daughter when she is also in pain.
She said she doesn’t also know how her child is going to be able to fit into “an old yet new world” as she has to adjust to living without her arm.
“My daughter is intelligent. I hope this does not affect her academically because her future will go down the drain.
I do not even know how to comfort her as my daughter because I also need comforting on how best I can deal with this,” said the distraught mother.
She said her daughter left home two weeks ago going to school alone like she has been doing since the beginning of the year.
Ms Ngwenya said she was called at around 730AM and told about the incident.
“The driver said my daughter is the one who gave them my phone number because I taught her from a young age to know it by heart.
The details on what happened and how it happened I also do not know,” she said.
Ms Ngwenya said she did not even ask about the details when she got to the hospital as she was still in shock.
A few days after Delish was admitted in hospital, her right hand was amputated.
She is admitted to the United Bulawayo Hospitals waiting for her second surgery which doctors hope will ensure that her right leg is not amputated.
“The driver is trying to help cover some bills but the money is not enough. My husband supports our family through piece jobs that he does and I am not working so paying the balance of the bills is a bit challenging for us.
I did not ask the hospital how much we are currently owing because I know it will be a headache on top of the headache I already have. The doctors want to insert a metal,” she tearfully said.
Ms Ngwenya appealed to members of the public to help pay hospital bills and other basics such as a wheelchair that Delish will need when she is discharged.
“As it is, I do not even know how many pills she takes a day because they are a lot especially for someone her age,” said the mother.
“I am appealing to the public to help us with a wheelchair and to pay the hospital bill that is remaining.
My daughter might also need counselling so that she can adjust to this new world that she has found herself in.
I am really praying I also get money to send her to a school where someone with her condition is accommodated and given proper attention.”
Ms Ngwenya said well-wishers may contact her on 0777415004 or her husband Mr Cleopas Munkuli on 0774526620. -@flora_sibanda
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