No day of celebration for mothers at disaster site
While most mothers woke up to flowers and chocolates yesterday morning, a handful of them working as first responders at the scene of the George building collapse had to give up their family time and roses to remove rubble and rescue lives.
As mothers across SA celebrated Mother’s Day, the family of Esther Ngwinga, the mother of a one-year-old baby girl, was hoping for a different kind of gift.
Ngwinga is still trapped beneath the rubble of the collapsed building, a week after the incident occurred, but her sisters, Maria Msiswa and Lacher Bwinge, refuse to give up.
“That’s all we want, nothing more, nothing less,” Msiswa said yesterday.
“We just want her to come home ... her child needs her mom.
“This would have been Esther’s baby’s first Mother’s Day, a day she should have spent cradled in her mom’s arms.”
Ngwinga is among the 81 people who were working on site when the five-storey block of flats imploded on Monday at about 2pm.
Meanwhile, on the front line, Yolanda Avontuur was unable to spend this Mother’s Day with her own children.
Instead, she was knee-deep in the rubble, working tirelessly to find those trapped beneath.
The Metro EMS employee has three children — two boys and a girl and said it was not easy being away from them, especially on such a special day.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Avontuur said, wiping sweat from her forehead
“But knowing I might be able to bring someone back to their family keeps me going. I feel blessed.”
“Yesterday [Saturday], when Gabriel Guambe was saved, I saw a miracle and hope was restored.
“Being a mother is knowing that someone is depending on you to help and be strong for them, and this job is no different.
“I am here today to make sure we are ready to do our job and that we are ready to save lives.”
Avontuur said since they got there on Monday, her job had been to make sure as many people as possible were saved and received the best care from when they were rescued until they reached the hospital.
Adel Supra-Vertue, a firefighter with nearly three decades of service, knows the importance of lending a hand in times of crisis.
Originally from Mossel Bay and now living in Cape Town, she arrived in George on Thursday, ready to offer her support to the team already on the ground.
With a compassionate smile, she recounted the moment when hope triumphed over despair the miraculous rescue of 33-year-old Guambe, who was trapped for five days under layers of concrete and rocks.
“Seeing him come out alive gave us all a renewed sense of purpose,” Supra-Vertue said.
“We’re here for them [families of victims], just as they’re here for us.
“No matter how long it takes, we’ll keep going until we bring them all home.”
The George municipality said in a statement: “We wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day, with a special tribute to the mothers at the site of the collapsed building who are tirelessly working on rescue and recovery efforts.
“Our thoughts are also with those mothers who are anxiously waiting for news about their loved ones, the mothers who are still trapped and those who have tragically lost their mothers.
“We salute everyone from the emergency services and firefighters to the women supporting the rescuers.
“Your strength and dedication are truly inspiring.”