According to the boy’s mother, Rosalina Mkhabela, Bennett has cerebral palsy arising from brain damage caused during his birth at Tambo Memorial Hospital.
Our sister newspaper, The Citizen, reported in 2015 that the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that the hospital staff who assisted Mkhabela to give birth had been negligent and that the Gauteng Health MEC was 100 percent liable for the child’s damages.
According to the report, the mother won the first leg of her legal battle to get compensation for her son but the amount of damages will, however, be determined at a later stage.
Mkhabela explains the condition has rendered Bennett unable to do any basic movements or speak and he needs 24-hour care.
A wheelchair will mean that, as a family, they can get out and about with Bennett.
It will also help the child to sit up and adopt different postures in the chair, so he can remain comfortable.
“Since his birth, Bennett has been attended to by more than 40 doctors, but there is still no improvement in his condition. A wheelchair will improve Bennett’s life and bring a huge relief for him and us, as a family,” Mkhabela said.
While the unemployed mother would love to get a wheelchair for her son, it remains a fraction of the struggles she now encounters.
She also struggles financially to cover the basic costs of maintaining Bennett and her other children and with living without electricity or a flushing toilet.
Mkhabela is, therefore, also appealing for donations of basic necessities, such as food, disposable nappies and clothes.
A community leader, Granny Selepe, who alerted the Advertiser to the plight of the boy, said she was also moved by the difficult conditions Bennett lives in.
She is also concerned about the family’s living conditions and financial situation.
Selepe pointed out that one of the boy’s siblings was forced to leave school and look for a job to financially assist his unemployed mother, who doesn’t even have a SA ID to apply for a social grant.
To make a donation, contact the mother on 073 745 9299 or Selepe on 082 973 9042.
To read more about the circumstances surrounding the boy’s condition go to https://buff.ly/2orZ0IB
