KELEBOGILE TSHWENE, a happy four-year-old girl, recently had her right arm amputated due to cancer. Her mother, who struggles to stay strong, tells her story.
“She’s my first and only child,” says Olga Tshwene, her mother. Olga works at Roman’s Pizza close to New Redruth Village and lives with her daughter in the Newmarket area. “We are very close. She stays with her grandmother while I am at work during the day. They are also very close.” Olga loves her daughter very much and feels inspired by her. “She’s very friendly and outgoing. She loves to draw and write and play. When she gets hurt, she keeps it to herself for a long time before she tells me.” Olga adds that Kelebogile takes life lightly, and even the day after her arm was removed, she was playing happily.
It started as a lump on her arm. After visiting the Johannesburg General and Natalspruit hospitals several times, Olga was told that it was nothing serious and could be treated with a common ointment. Holding onto the hope that her daughter’s condition was nothing serious, Olga followed these instructions. It was not until it was too late that doctors notified her that her daughter’s arm had to be amputated – the bone had already been affected by the cancer and this was the only option left. Olga was shattered. She never expected this to happen to her child. There had never been cancer in her family before – she could not understand why it had to affect her baby girl.
Kelebogile seems less affected by her own loss than Olga. But despite her positivity, she has her mother worried. She has never seen anyone else without a limb before, and Olga believes that this might one day have an effect on her self-esteem and perspective of what is normal. “She needs to see other children who are in the same position,” she says. “People are already alienating her; she has to realise that they are at fault – she is not abnormal. Her mind is great.”
Olga struggles to stay strong all the time. She puts on a brave face each day, but when she is alone, she struggles to come to terms with her daughter’s situation. She wants to be an inspiration and let other people in the same position as Kelebogile know that they are not alone.
Olga wishes to find an appropriate school for Kelebogile – one that can accommodate her physical disability and expose her to other children in the same situation, but also respect the fact that nothing is mentally wrong with her. She is a smart child and her mother wants her to reach her full potential. If you know a school that fits this criteria, wish to talk with her, or feel like helping her or her daughter in any other way, feel free to contact her on 071 353 6583.
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