Editor – In the name of our Lord – most merciful, most beneficial. I would like to start off on the tangent that if anyone has lost faith in humanity, go no further than Ladysmith (a small town nestled in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands) to rekindle that lost ground and hope, and subsequently find your reassurance in humanity. Good, God-fearing people abound and all is not lost. That’s the simple but most invaluable lesson one will learn and cherish.
On January 7, one of my family members was returning from the Natal lower South Coast and heading for home, Johannesburg.
Inclement weather (very cloudy and misty, with some rainfall, thus reducing visibility exponentially) caused my family member to drive into a very slow-moving truck (horse and trailer). These are but all excuses – as the greatest of planners, the Almighty, knows best. Infinite gratitude to the Lord for sparing all the family, with some injuries.
The vehicle was totally wrecked, but I reiterate that divine intervention saved the occupants. From the site of the accident (4km from the Tugela Plaza toll gate), all the injured were transported to La Verna Hospital in Ladysmith.
It is at this point that the lesson on humanitarianism slaps all of us big city boys. If any individual has to be singled out, it has to be Dr Khan, the CEO of La Verna Hospital. He personally took it upon himself that all the patients were attended to and stabilized. Dr Khan personally got the orthopaedic surgeon (who was off-duty) to attend to the patients, who had multiple fractures. Dr Sbu Nhobe, the orthopaedic, returned to duty and immediately attended to the patients.
One of the patients was put on traction therapy and operated on the next day by Dr Sbu Nhobe, an outstanding human being and the epitome of professionalism.
Just when we thought we had seen the best of Ladysmith, the most unbelievable happened. CEO Dr M Khan went beyond the call of duty by mobilising the community, and organising boarding and lodging for family visitors who came from Port Shepstone, Umzinto and Johannesburg.
People we did not know from a “bar of blue soap” simply put their house keys into our hands and said: “Please do what you have to” and this also included provision of house servants. Every day for five days, people brought the most delicious lunch and supper for the patients, not that the hospital did not cater for them.
We also learnt that Dr Khan is involved in a host of other philanthropic activities – what a human being! We all do pray that the Lord grants Dr Khan a long life and that he continues to run the hospital and serves mankind. Dr Khan, you would have made the French philosophers proud – a person of the people, by the people, for the people.
A hospital is not for the faint-hearted – I have witnessed first-hand how patients who were shot were treated, stabilised and sent to government hospitals (gratis)! Medical aid or cash was the last thing on Dr Khan’s mind.
If I use the standards set by Dr Khan and the people of Ladysmith to measure kindness and generosity, then all I can say is that you set the bar very high, thus making it very difficult to emulate a splendid example for all to follow indeed.
Once again, most heartfelt gratitude, appreciation and thanks to the folk of Ladysmith. We’ve been taught about “let your left hand know what your right hand did”… The people of Ladysmith are humble and will never blow their own trumpet – it is on account of this fact that I was forced to put pen to paper.
May the Lord shower the people of Ladysmith with infinite and beautiful mercies and blessings.
Last year I was part of a group of Gandhi walkers who walked from Johannesburg to Durban. We were fortunate to walk through Ladysmith and were given five-star treatment. ‘Small-town bored syndrome’ – how wrong I was. I emphatically state that this town abounds with the most generous, welcoming, accommodating and wonderful people.
