Mining accident victim appeals for wheelchair

A 25-YEAR-OLD Masvingo man, who has had both legs amputated after a mining accident early this year, is appealing for assistance to get a wheelchair.

Mr Simbarashe Zuva of Mucheke A suburb got injured while working in a mine in Lalapanzi, Midlands Province, in May this year and has been in hospital since then.

Narrating his ordeal from his hospital bed at Masvingo General Hospital, Mr Zuva said he met his fate when a boulder fell on him from a height of about two metres, crushing his legs while working in the mine shaft.

The injury to his legs left doctors with no option, but to amputate both his limbs, leaving him in need of a wheelchair for his mobility.

“Sometime in May this year at around 5pm, I was working at Mrs D Dzikiti’s mine claim in her farm in Lalapanzi when I met my fate,” narrated Mr Zuva.

“I was working in an open shaft when a big stone fell off the roof and hit both my legs. My screams attracted my workmates who rushed to where I was but they could not remove the boulder.”

Mr Zuva said the boulder was only moved using an excavator three hours later.

He was rushed to Gweru Provincial Hospital where he was admitted for nine days before being transferred to Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo due to the deteriorating condition.

“At Mpilo Hospital, the doctor who attended to me discovered that my right leg had broken twice in the accident, leading to it being amputated,” said Mr Zuva.

“I was later transferred and skin from my thigh has been removed for grafting on my left leg.”

As fate would have it, the doctors also suggested that his remaining leg be amputated as it was not going to function given the deep wounds and broken veins.

His employer in Lalapanzi, Mrs Dzikiti, paid his Gweru Hospital bill and sent him $150 to pay the bill at Mpilo Hospital.

Mr Zuva’s rising bill is at $471 at Masvingo Provincial Hospital.

The former miner had worked in Lalapanzi for only two months getting, paid per tonne mined.

Mr Zuva lives with his mother who is a housemaid in Mucheke suburb and has two other children.

“I am appealing to well-wishers to assist me with a wheelchair so that when I am discharged soon I will have somewhere to start since I have no job,” he said.

Well-wishers can contact Mr Zuva’s mother, Mrs Rebecca Zuva on 0775373196 or Mrs Ever Sithole on 0776072093.