Online ReporterLovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
JOSEPH Rego, the Bulawayo based grassroots cricket development exponent, is recuperating at a hospital in Mangalore, India, after undergoing surgery on Monday.
The president and board chairman of the prestigious Old Mutual Academy of Cricket Excellence suffered acute abdominal pain and bleeding before being rushed to a high profile multi speciality hospital in the Indian province of Mangalore earlier this week.
The academy’s media department confirmed Rego’s condition in a statement released on Tuesday morning.
“Bulawayo’s celebrated sports management icon underwent a three hour surgery for stent removal and the crushing of a large 15mm kidney stone through a procedure called RIRS.
“It is a modern day approach technology performed by laser. He was operated by one of India’s most well known urologists and surgeon Dr. Ashok Pandit and his team of specialists and has been recuperating at the post operative theatre at the famous Yenopaya Hospital in Mangalore. He is being monitored by a team of doctors and professionals,” read part of the statement.
RIRS, also known as retrograde intra renal surgery, is a modern high technology procedure that removes kidney stones without external incisions. The minimally invasive process involves passing a ureteroscope through the natural urinary tract to break the stones into small fragments using a laser, allowing for faster recovery.
During the procedure, the surgeon inserts a flexible ureteroscope through the urethra into the bladder before navigating it into the ureter. A camera attached to the scope allows the doctor to view the kidney directly.
A thin laser fibre is then passed through the scope to break the stones into tiny sand like particles, which are removed using small baskets or forceps.
“Rego is expected to be discharged within a week as he has been progressing well,” said his team.
The country’s celebrated sports management icon, together with his partner and Politburo member Elifasi Mashaba, is set to launch a major global transformational vision aimed at the growth and development of sport in Zimbabwe in honour of President Mnangagwa.
The high profile national sports development initiative seeks to leave a lasting legacy by placing sport at the centre of youth empowerment, employment creation and national development, in line with Vision 2030 and the President’s aspirations for a better future for Zimbabwe’s children.
