LIMPOPO – A patient of Tshilidzini Hospital is at the end of his tether over repeated delays in an operation to save his leg.
Resident of Mvelaphanda village and father of four, Lukas Dzivhani, approached Munna Ndi Nnyi, a human rights organisation in Vhembe district, for intervention.
The organisation’s Director, Dr Bardwell Mufunwaini said Dzivhani should not have been discharged from the hospital in the first place.
“If they felt that discharging him was an option, they should have referred him to social workers who would have assessed his condition to ensure that he received either food parcels or a temporary social grant,” he said.
Dzivhani should have been operated on in February already, which has in the meantime put his leg at risk of being amputated.
“They turned me away four times,” he told CV.
He is builder and roofing constructor by profession, and broke his leg when he fell off a roof on 3 February.
“I had excruciating pain and by three hours later, the ambulance had not even arrive to fetch me,” he said.
They had to rent a bakkie which transported him to the hospital, where an operation was schedule for the following week.
In the following week, however, Dzivhani was discharged as the hospital bed was needed for an emergency, he was told.
When he eventually showed up on the scheduled operation day, he was again turned away.
“They said there were in-hospital patients who were there with more serious conditions than mine,” he said.
“I was shocked to hear this because I was in a lot of pain.”
Dzivhani said his livelihood has been compromised. As a result of the accident, he is unable to work.
His wife, Nthuseni Khunwana, said her husband wakes up at night and complains about pain and his inability to fend for his family.
Health Spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said that he would check the veracity of the case before commenting.
