Facebook community pays it forward for Hillcrest woman
Nonhlanhla (37) has been a quadriplegic for 11 years after she was shot at her workplace where she worked as a security guard.
AN art teacher, a special friend and airtime to call her family is all Nonhlanhla Zimu (37), a quadriplegic permanent resident in Hillcrest Hospital, wants to fulfil her life.
Nonhlanhla’s story has gone viral and touched many people after it was shared on the Pay it Forward Facebook page.
Nonhlanhla’s lost her husband in 2000, leaving her with an infant child, a son named Mhlengi.
In 2004, Nonhlanhla was shot at her workplace, what was then Botha’s Hill SPAR, where she worked as a security guard at the entrance.
According to the post, on the day of the shooting, just as the store was about to open, eight balaclava-clad men approached her and demanded that she take them to the safe. She refused. A struggle ensued and Nonhlanhla was shot.
Nonhlanhla fought valiantly for a year for her life, with her lungs filling with fluid regularly and needing physiotherapy to drain the fluid.
Her son, Mhlengi, who is now in Grade 8, lives with his paternal grandmother in Cato Ridge and visits his mom regularly.
When Sandy Williams Bayman, the woman who visited Nonhlanhla and shared her story on the Pay It Forward page, said when Nonhlanhla was asked what she wanted most in her life her answer was simple – she wanted an art teacher and a special friend who can visit her regularly to talk and laugh with her.
The hospital does provide teaching once a week, but Nonhlanhla wanted a special person just for her. Nonhlanhla has the limited use of her arms, but not her hands. And so she is learning to paint with her mouth.
Her aim is to use her imagination and paint what she sees and sell some of her work.
Sandy, who is a regular visitor to the hospital, said she would often pass Nonhlanhla’s bed and greet her.
“I have yet to see her sad. She always has a big smile and a happy attitude, and always thankful for the smallest thing one does for her. I cannot say how deeply thankful I am to have somebody take an interest in this very special lady,” she said.
Nonhlanhla had two other requests – she also needed a little airtime to call her mom and son. The staff place her cellphone at her ear when a call comes in or when she makes one, and then remove it again afterwards.
She has a battery-controlled wheelchair, donated a long time ago, and is able to get around a little at times in the garden of the hospital. But mostly she is in bed, smiling and friendly, always.
