Lungelo puts life together again after explosion

eMBALENHLE – A gas explosion in April 2017 changed Ms Lungelo Sukazi’s (36) life forever.

She lost her left leg in the explosion.

Her son was only three weeks old when the accident happened at her parents’ house in eMbalenhle.

Ms Sukazi worked in Gauteng at the time and came to eMbalenhle to give birth to her son and to spent part of her maternity leave with her parents.

“My mom made breakfast for family visiting from KwaZulu-Natal before my parents left the house to do grocery shopping,” said Ms Sukazi.

“After they left the house, the kids wanted the leftovers of the breakfast and I was dishing it up for them when the electricity went off.

“The gas cylinder that my mom uses for cooking was on top of the four plate gas stove, but everything was switched off.

“The electricity then came back on and my nephew helped me with the food and switched one of the gas plates on, not realising that it was the same plate on which the cylinder was.

“My mom’s friend was also visiting and I still told her the cylinder is in an awkward position on the stove. She said I must take a dry cloth and take the cylinder off from the stove.”

As Ms Sukazi walked back from the sink to remove the cylinder, she heard a loud noise like a bang and fell on the floor and saw a bright light inside of the house.

“I saw that the cylinder split in two. I saw blood everywhere and the cylinder going through the roof.

“The gas stove shrank to the size of a car tyre.

“I remember thinking I must get out of the house.

“I saw that my lower leg was only attached to my upper leg by a piece of skin and I began crawling backwards to get out of the house.”
In a state of shock, Ms Sukazi forgot about her baby who was still in the house when the gas stove and cylinder exploded.

“When I was outside the house, we heard my son crying and my brother went back inside the house through one of the windows to get him.

“One of our neighbours also went back inside the house through one of the other windows.”

Ms Sukazi said she can remember how the pain increased after they rescued her baby, while they were waiting for an ambulance to arrive about an hour later.

She was finally taken to Evander Hospital and can still remember how the doctor cut open her brand new traditional clothes that she got from her mother.

“The accident happened on a Thursday and I remember waking up in the hospital again on a Saturday.

“I did not know where I was.

“I saw on the pillowcases were written Bethal, on the sheets, Middelburg and I had no phone with me to call someone and ask what was going on,” said Ms Sukazi.

Her uncle and mother visited her and she could see her mother had been crying as her eyes were red.

“I asked my mom what’s wrong but she said there was just something in her eye.

“I later learnt that my leg was amputated just below my knee.”

Ms Sukazi was in Witbank Hospital and was waiting for doctors to amputate another part of her leg, this time above her knee because she had an infection in her leg.

It was very traumatic for her to wait for weeks for this and every time she was supposed to go for the operation and was mentally prepared she would be told the operation cannot take place as the hospital did not have clean bed linen or some other excuse.

“We eventually ended up complaining at the manager’s office and then finally things were organised to amputate the rest of my leg,” said Ms Sukazi.

It was a very difficult time in Ms Sukazi’s life.

She wanted to stay strong for her family who was also very emotional about the whole incident and supported her throughout the whole incident.

“It was difficult to remain in the hospital for so long and I could not see my baby boy.

“When I got my cell phone I could at least call him and hear his voice.”

Her son stayed with her mother in KwaZulu-Natal for the time that Ms Sukazi was in the hospital because her parents’ house in eMbalenhle was in shambles after the explosion.

When Ms Sukazi was released from the hospital, it was still a long road to recovery.
She battled to get a prosthetic leg as she first got the wrong leg from one of the state hospitals and was told if she wants the perfect leg she must pay.

In the meantime, Ms Sukazi resigned from her job where she worked for an events company because she realised she would no longer be able to do the job without a leg.

While she was waiting for her leg from the state hospital, she applied for an internship as an administrative officer at the police and got in.

She decided to go and see a private practice to help her with a leg since she then had medical aid.

However, the medical aid only paid a portion of Ms Sukazi’s new leg and she still had to raise money and use all her savings to pay for her new prosthetic leg.

She eventually was permanently appointed to the police and enjoys her job.

She still battles to walk with her new leg sometimes and to cope with the emotional side of losing her leg and raising her now four-year-old son, but she is thankful that she is alive and has a job.

Ms Sukazi is one of the faces for the JeneSaisQuoi Modelling Academy’s eight women with courage which was launched for Women’s Month in August.

She received a free make-up session and photoshoot in August as part of this project.

Anyone who knows a woman who had to endure a difficult or traumatic time can nominate a woman by contacting the owner of JeneSaisQuoi Modelling Academy, Ms Tanya Maartens at 076 192 4420.