Four years ago, Zanele Nete, 29, supported herself as a fruit picker in the Western Cape, but a debilitating disease has now left her crawling and relying on others.
Residents of Cambridge township have rallied behind the chronically ill Nete, who shares a shack in the township with her unemployed mother, and made a plea for support.
Nete’s right leg was amputated above the knee at Eerste River Hospital in the same year she was diagnosed with Ischaemia.
Ischaemia is a restriction in blood to tissues, causing a shortage of oxygen and glucose needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive) and is generally caused by problems with blood vessels.
The condition has spread to the left leg resulting in her losing three toes.
Her neighbour Vusa Zingqana said Nete was in need of urgent assistance.
“We are calling for people to come and help this young woman. We’ve tried to get help, but without any luck. When it rains, she is forced to crawl in the mud to go to places,” said Zingqana.
Nete told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that she felt numbness in her right leg just before she was diagnosed.
“When I went for a check-up, the doctors said I suffer from a disease I didn’t even know. They said blood was not circulating into my leg.
“None of my family members suffered from this Ischaemia, I really don’t know what is happening.”
She lost her leg shortly after. Last October a doctor at Frere Hospital in East London told her that her second leg had to be amputated too.
“I am always sick and with the news that I am going to lose my second leg, this will make my situation worse.”
She currently receives a government disability grant.
If she wants to go to town, she has to crawl up a steep slope to a taxi rank.
“Some taxi operators have no patience and I am forced to hire a small taxi for R200 a trip to town. I don’t even have a wheelchair. I need help,” she said.
She said her Buffalo City Metro ward councillor, Dinesh Vallabh, had tried to help her. Yesterday, Vallabh could not be reached for comment.
Neighbour Mabhuti Lelevana said Nete’s situation needed government attention. “We need a person who can offer assistance or our government to give her a house, even a temporary structure will be fine for her,” said Lelevana. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
VIDEO: Woman in desperate need of help
Residents of Cambridge township have rallied behind the chronically ill Nete, who shares a shack in the township with her unemployed mother, and made a plea for support.
Nete’s right leg was amputated above the knee at Eerste River Hospital in the same year she was diagnosed with Ischaemia.
Ischaemia is a restriction in blood to tissues, causing a shortage of oxygen and glucose needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive) and is generally caused by problems with blood vessels.
The condition has spread to the left leg resulting in her losing three toes.
Her neighbour Vusa Zingqana said Nete was in need of urgent assistance.
“We are calling for people to come and help this young woman. We’ve tried to get help, but without any luck. When it rains, she is forced to crawl in the mud to go to places,” said Zingqana.
Nete told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that she felt numbness in her right leg just before she was diagnosed.
“When I went for a check-up, the doctors said I suffer from a disease I didn’t even know. They said blood was not circulating into my leg.
“None of my family members suffered from this Ischaemia, I really don’t know what is happening.”
She lost her leg shortly after. Last October a doctor at Frere Hospital in East London told her that her second leg had to be amputated too.
“I am always sick and with the news that I am going to lose my second leg, this will make my situation worse.”
She currently receives a government disability grant.
If she wants to go to town, she has to crawl up a steep slope to a taxi rank.
“Some taxi operators have no patience and I am forced to hire a small taxi for R200 a trip to town. I don’t even have a wheelchair. I need help,” she said.
She said her Buffalo City Metro ward councillor, Dinesh Vallabh, had tried to help her. Yesterday, Vallabh could not be reached for comment.
Neighbour Mabhuti Lelevana said Nete’s situation needed government attention. “We need a person who can offer assistance or our government to give her a house, even a temporary structure will be fine for her,” said Lelevana. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
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