Crawling woman receives wheelchair donation
It was a heartfelt moment when Doris Jali (59) was blessed with a wheelchair after she had been crawling to get around her whole life.
A DASSENHOEK resident who has been crawling her whole life was blessed with a wheelchair last week.
Doris Jali is a 59-year-old woman who has never walked in her life as her legs were damaged by boiling water when she was barely a year old.
The story of Jali reached the Quadpara Association of KZN board member, Dean Shand, who is also a quadriplegic.
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“I came to know of Jali’s shocking story through my caregiver, Constance. I was shattered; I could not believe that in this day and age, someone would struggle so much to get assistance.
“It just broke my heart – she has never even been to a shopping mall. Crawling was the only form of moving around she knew, but her house was so clean as she does everything on her hands and feet – that is impressive,” said Shand.
Shand’s caregiver Constance Khwela said she first saw Jali at a funeral. “I told Dean about her. This was only two months ago – after searching for her through various people, we finally located her. I was so glad to be part of the heartfelt moment,” said Khwela with a smile.
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“I would like to thank Quadpara’s head office and Dean for treating this matter with urgency, and I would like to appeal to people to get help for their family members who have challenges and not to keep them stuck in their homes – there is help out there,” she said.
The QuadPara Association of KwaZulu-Natal has been assisting disabled members through informal peer counselling, interaction and advice since 1992. The self-help centre offers services to people with disabilities in the province.
Shand said they have faced negative publicity, and the management is striving to do its best.
“We do so much good here, and we would appreciate any kind of assistance. We even go out to malls to try and get enough food and hand over food parcels to the needy,” he said.
How can you help?
Collect bottle caps and plastic bread tags – QUAK and QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA) sell these items to plastic recyclers, with the funds going to QASA who have the responsibility of supplying wheelchairs to members on the national waiting list.
Support Casual Day – buy stickers from the Pinetown office of QUAK. The Casual Day event is on September 2.
Donate secondhand items – The QuadPara Association of KZN accepts food, clothing, wheelchairs or pressure mattress donations, which will be passed onto their members. Financial donations are welcome.
For more information, call 031 701 7444 or visit 19 Second Ave, Ashley, Pinetown and ask for Angela Coxhrane.
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