Big-hearted runner helps clinic
FOURWAYS - A domestic worker who lives and works in Lonehill decided to help the patients of Witkoppen Clinic for her 67 minutes for Mandela.
Stella Madlele (48) is an ovarian cancer survivor who has run the Comrades Marathon 14 times. She ran her first marathon in 1998 even although she had been hit by a taxi the previous year and had broken her hip and leg.
“It was my dream to run the Comrades so I just had to do it and for my first Comrades I finished with a time of 10 hours and 18 minutes,” she said.
Madelele is a regular patient at the clinic and decided that for her 67 minutes she wanted to hand out soup, bread and oranges to patients waiting in line at the clinic as the clinic is so close to her heart.
She roped in her best friend, Florence Munyie, as well as her grandson, Andile Sangweni and three of her friends’ children to help her bring some warmth and comfort to the patients.
“People wait in line at the clinic from 5am, and sometimes they don’t have anything in their stomachs and it’s very cold. I just wanted to give the patients something for Mandela Day,” Madlele said.
Although she didn’t have much money to spend for her 67 minutes, she made as much soup and bought as many loaves of bread and oranges as she could afford.
“If you’ve got the heart to do something, you can do it no matter how much money you have,” she said.
“Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years, you can’t be lazy to help someone for just 67 minutes.”
