NKANYISO Mkhize, who was left paralysed after a horrific car accident, has expressed his thanks to the Saint Giles Remedial Gym for giving the disabled a fighting chance to be whole again.
Speaking about the incident that changed his life, Nkanyiso said the lyrics to Tracy Chapman’s hit single “Fast Car” came to mind as he lay in the crumpled heap of what was left of his friend’s car.
“The new Golf 5 showed us just how much power she had as my friend broke her in on the open road on our way to Underberg. I remember feeling like I was in a movie, being played in slow motion, when he lost control at the wheel. My friends sitting next to me suddenly could fly and I thought that this was what it would feel like to be in a washing machine!” he said.
Soon to be 25, Nkanyiso, an electrical engineer awaiting his in-service training, sat unbelted in the back seat of the car.
The horror crash, which he says took place on a beautiful Friday afternoon, claimed the lives of his two friends sitting in the back seat with him, and cost him the use of his legs.
Nkanyiso was rushed to Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg where it was confirmed that he had fractured and dislocated his T11 and T12 spinal discs and would never walk again.
Post operation, Nkanyiso stayed for nearly two months in the hospital before being sent home. Once home, he started physio at Addington Hospital and it was there that he was told about Saint Giles and the magic that happens within its walls.
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Nkanyiso has been a patient at the Saint Giles Remedial Gym for the past two years. Terry Rennie, managing director of Saint Giles, said 85 per cent of the cases at the gym were people who were seated in the back seat of vehicles without their seat belts on.
“I remember being wheeled into the Gym by my caregiver and happily thinking I was not alone anymore as I saw the other patients just like me. Therapist Gina Gabriel immediately started putting me through my paces and by the end of January 2019, I surprised my mom by saying I didn’t require a caregiver anymore. My core strength had improved so much that I was able to lift myself off my wheelchair and into the car and on to my bed, all on my own. I don’t even need help in the bathroom any longer, I have regained my dignity and it feels great!” he said.
Nkanyiso’s next goal is to get himself an engineering internship that will lead to getting a job and to drive again.
“It’s an open road out there and I want to enjoy the ride, seat belt on this time though!” he said.
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