EDM helps woman to get surgery

MBOMBELA – A sad tale of a 20-year-old woman suffering from a rare disease known as neurofibromatosis, had a happy ending thanks to the Ehlanzeni District Municipality which intervened and saved her from the daily pain she used to suffer.

Ms Tsakani Nkuna, who suffers from an abnormal skin disease, similar to elephantism, only this one doesn’t only grow from the leg, but anywhere in the body, will now through this district municipal’s intervention, undergo plastic surgery by specialists in Pretoria.

Nkuna, whose life has been a sad chapter altogether, having lost both parents when she was still young, was left with the responsibility of looking after herself and her four siblings. She had to deal with the raging fire that destroyed her house, almost killing them while they were asleep, and will head to Pretoria in December for her scheduled plastic surgery, which doctors and experts say is the final option, because even if the skin is cut, it can recur after five or six years.

“I am excited, I can’t wait for this procedure,” said the shy and soft-spoken Nkuna with a beaming smile on her face and eyes full of tears.

Formalising this move, which started in July, during the Mandela Day celebration in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, the EDM executive mayor, Cllr Letta Shongwe joined by a few members of her mayoral committee, applauded her officials for not only offering assistance on Mandela Day, but for taking the matter to the level where it is today.

“What happened here is proof that if we work together we can achieve results. I also want to applaud Tsakani for coming out with her plight because if you hide your illness, you will not get help. I am happy her pain will be a thing of the past. We will pray for the operation to go smoothly. We believe the doctors will do their best to help her and we hope the best for her,” said Shongwe.

Nkuna is not the first person who has been helped by her institution. They have assisted many, including the Mattafin woman who needed plastic surgery after she was burnt with acid by her former partner.

Ms Suzan Sibuyi, the woman who rescued Nkuna and her siblings from the fire, also painted a bleak picture, but sang the praises of EDM for coming on board.

“This girl has been through a lot and suffered enough, I am happy for her because now she will start living life like the rest of her peers. I would like to thank the institution because had it not been for their intervention, she would still be in pain and cursing the day she was born. Ever since Ehlanzeni took over, we have seen a little smile on her face,” said Sibuyi who also runs a home-based care and a drop-in centre in Bushbuckridge.

She also appealed for more help from local people, especially businesses to help them with food parcels and blankets so that they are able to provide for more people in need just like Nkuna.

Dr Corné Ackerman, a surgeon, said this was a disease one was born with and it could keep growing, which affected the nerves.

“This is very bad, because even if it is cut, it can just grow back, that’s why we recommended plastic surgery,” she said.