A MOTHER’S love is said to be unconditional and never-ending, even more so when a child encounters difficulties and severe medical conditions.
Patricia Shozi’s daughter, Nqobile, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was a year old.
“I noticed that something was not quite right with my daughter when she was just not reaching the milestones children her age were reaching. She was not sitting, not crawling and her body was just not growing firm,” said Patricia.
Nqobile was first diagnosed with microcephalic cerebral palsy, which was later confirmed to be cerebral palsy.
ALSO READ: Annie ready to be homed after life-changing makeover
A carer and nurturer by nature, Patricia has dedicated her life to take care of her daughter and understanding her condition. She has been a carer at the Camphors Care Centre in Hillcrest for the past six years and, in her case, her job doesn’t end when she clocks out from the care centre.
She is a round-the-clock carer as her daughter’s condition requires someone to be by her side at all times.
According to Patricia, her job as a carer has helped her to deal with and accept her daughter’s condition.
“Whatever skills I learn through my work helps me to better deal with my daughter and her needs,” she said.
Nqobile is now 11 years old and uses a wheelchair. Her doting mother said that her daughter has, unfortunately, been stuck indoors for most of her life as her home and yard is not wheelchair friendly.
“Whenever we need to take her out of the house, she has to be carried. For every doctor’s appointment we carry Nqobile to the bus stop as the wheelchair cannot make it along the dangerous pathways that have been built up with wooden planks and slates,” said Patricia.
Nqobile has been receiving treatment at RK Khan Hospital since she was a year old.
According to Patricia, she and her husband built a driveway in 2019 with gravel and cement but, unfortunately, it was washed away by heavy storms.
Nqobile is also epileptic and asthmatic and can experience a seizure at any time.
“Her seizures have become uncontrollable and require us to take her to the clinic for treatment each time they occur,” said the worried mom.
Patricia’s deepest fear is that her daughter feels she is being neglected as she doesn’t get sufficient interaction with other children her age in the community.
This desperate mother is seeking assistance to build a safe driveway and pathway to make it easier for her daughter to reach the main road whenever she has to reach the clinic and hospital but, most importantly, so she can make more friends.
“She is not looking for free handouts and has even offered to pay off the job in instalments, but we are looking for a generous company or person in the Upper Highway that may be able to assist this mom with workmanship, or supplies, that are cost effective, to make a pathway for Nqobile to use her wheelchair,” said Patricia’s manager, Shelley Stamp.
The pathway is about 325m in length.
* Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
