Vusumuzi Dube
Amanda Mlevu, Sunday News Reporter
A FAMILY in Makokoba is seeking assistance with money to fund an urgent life changing surgery for a two-year old girl after it was discovered in July last year that she has cancer in her right eye which is also believed to have spread to her brain.
According to Ms Sethukile Nkomo (57), a grandmother to the girl, they are seeking US$600 for the surgery which can only be performed in South Africa.
The situation is further complicated by that the family is embroiled in a court case where they were evicted from their Njube lodgings for failure to pay rent which stands at ZW$1.5 million and US$400. The bills are however accumulating interest and the family cannot afford to pay them.
Ms Nkomo, she said she was in a quandary as she needed hospital bills together with rentals.
“The baby was born normally without any signs of cancer. It was shortly after celebrating her first birthday on 17 July 2022 that we noticed her eye was bulging. We took her to Pelandaba Clinic for treatment. However, after that, we were informed that cancer had formed in her eye when we took her to Richard Morris Eye Hospital. The family has been struggling with taking her for medical help due to lack of funding,” she said.
She said the child was then referred to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare where she was to be treated for cancer and has managed to get initiated on Chemotherapy. However due to a shortage of funds the family has not been able to return for further treatment.
“We were supposed to go to Harare for another session of chemotherapy last week, but I have not been able to secure the funds so we are just at home with the child. What makes it worse is that the child’s mother, who is my daughter, was divorced by her husband after the child developed this condition so I am staying with her and her other children in a small room that we secured in Makokoba,” she added.
She said a 57-year-old widow she was finding it hard to make ends meet, revealing that she had three other grand children to take care of.
“Currently they are treating her for free but they are just giving her chemotherapy and there is no change so far that is why I wish that my granddaughter could see a specialist and get operated on. I have seen someone who also was suffering from the same condition and they took her to South Africa to be treated, that is why I believe that if she can get operated on, she will be better.
“Since my husband who was the breadwinner passed away it is very difficult to make ends meet, making matters worse now my granddaughter is not feeling well and I am unable to get treatment for her,” said Ms Nkomo.
Well-wishers who are willing to assist can contact her on 0715646528 and her Eco cash contacts are 0773105937.
Online Reporter