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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
SHILTON Gumbo (36) is a man who begs on the streets in Victoria Falls but very few people if any, know how he has endured pain caused by verruca warts on both feet for the past 30 years.
Gumbo said the condition started when he was six years old while staying in Mpopoma suburb, Bulawayo.
Gumbo did his primary and secondary education at Bulawayo’s Pelandaba Primary and Milton High School.
He struggled to walk to school as his feet developed small and rough growths underneath.
Verruca warts usually show up on the genitals and heels of the feet, the areas that bear the most pressure and can be spread to other people from contaminated surfaces or through close skin contact.
Health experts say the warts are caused by the human papilloma virus that enters through tiny cuts or breaks on the bottom of the feet, and more likely spread if skin is wet or damaged.
After seeing Gumbo struggling to walk and begging on the streets for years, Saturday Chronicle decided to talk to him about his condition.
His feet have warts that have developed into a thick layer of scales and some lumps. Similar warts are on the palms.
He said he hardly walks especially in the morning when the warts will be painful, making it difficult to put his feet on the ground.
He can walk for only 10 metres in about 20 minutes in the morning.
Gumbo said the condition started while staying at Tiger Reef Mine in Kwekwe where his paternal grandfather was a manager.
He said as children, they would steal mine workers’ safety shoes which they would wear whenever they entered the bush and return them afterwards.
“My grandfather worked in Kwekwe for a white man called Luveve. We used to have challenges walking around because there were some thorns and we would take gumboots belonging to some workers. So I think the owner of the gumboots that I wore had this condition on his feet and it infected me,” said Gumbo.
He said he discovered the condition when he started Grade 1 as he struggled to put on shoes.
He said his feet were sore and he could not walk during the first days.
“This is better now compared to when I was still a young boy. I can’t wear tight fitting shoes and I survive on open shoes like rafters. I can hardly walk especially in the morning because the feet will be too sore,” he said.
Gumbo said his father Wonder Gumbo is a former policeman and is in Kwekwe, his mother Ruth Moyo is in Gwanda while his sister is at Halisupi in Matabeleland South but he lost touch with them some years back.
He used to sleep on the streets begging for food in Victoria Falls until a Good Samaritan offered him a car to sleep in at the Chinotimba market to protect himself from the rains and harsh weather conditions.
He hardly bathes or washes his clothes because of lack of access to water where he stays and says he wishes to get a proper place for accommodation where he can also be assisted to start a chicken project to sustain himself.
Gumbo appealed to well-wishers to help him with access to medication or those who can help heal the condition.
Health experts have said most types of warts aren’t a serious health concern and can go away without treatment, especially in children under 12.
They are also treatable and Gumbo requires over US$200 to get treated in Livingstone, Zambia.
“I went to Zambia and they said the warts need to be peeled off. They said they will have to soak my feet first before peeling the scales off and US$240 is needed. I pray I get someone who can assist me with the money,” he said.
Gumbo has no phone and is contactable through some friends or can be visited on the street in front of Bata building in Victoria Falls. – @ncubeleon
Online Reporter