Cricketer Solomzi Nqweni is on the road to recovery
Fortunately Nqweni was not hospitalised and recovered from the virus while in isolation for two weeks.
In just an instant everything can change and much has changed for Warriors and Eastern Province cricketer Solomzi Nqweni.
In July last year, the 26 year-old sportsman was diagnosed with the rare Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). While playing club cricket in Scotland, Nqweni started fighting the harsh effects abroad. This year on home soil, another blow occurred when Nqweni tested positive for Covid-19 in May.
“I was anxious because I had been in hospital for so long and it was just when I came home. I was so looking forward to getting out of hospital spending time with friends and family,” he said.
Sandton resident Nqweni said that he was surprised when he tested positive – especially because he was being so careful.
“Contracting the virus did have some psychological affects you know. I couldn’t go to therapy, couldn’t be around people so it was tough; only my care worker could be around me. I was anxious to go back to hospital, anxious to go back to being on a ventilator.”
Fortunately Nqweni was not hospitalised and recovered from the virus while in isolation for two weeks.
With recovery on his mind, Nqweni thinks back to some of his hardships.
“Before I fell ill with GBS I never heard of it, never knew anyone who suffered from it and it was completely foreign to me until the day I fell ill. I was in an ambulance and next thing I know I woke up in ICU and paralysed with so many machines attached to me, basically fighting for my life at that stage,” he said.
He explained that what happens with GBS is that your immune system attacks your nerves and destroys them. It attacks from the outside in and recovery is done from the inside out.
“For three months I wasn’t able to eat, drink, talk, nothing like that. It takes about 12 to 18 months to get back on your feet again. I am at the stage where I can start walking in the pool through hydrotherapy. I’m starting to walk with a walking frame on land but with a lot of support.”
Having a 24-hour care worker, Nqweni is happy with the progress he has made this past year.
Right now he wants to prioritise his health. “I am giving myself sort of till the beginning of next year to get back on my feet and once I am back on my feet, I’ll have to look at the options I have from going into the working world or push to go back to professional cricket.”
Focused on recovery, Nqweni is motivated to overcome his hardships and make the most if it.
“It’s so important to have a spirit of overcoming regardless of what your situation may be and, as a person, you need to be able to adapt to whatever position you find yourself in and make the best of it because I can tell you, whatever happened to me in the past year, you can never be prepared for something like this.”
He added that choosing to focus on the positive will do the world of good.
