Sweet ending to Nozipho’s misery
GUARDIAN FUND AGREES TO PAY OUT MONIES
NOZIPHO Letsika, of Boksburg, will no longer need to save coins or play the lottery to raise funds for her leg and arm operation.
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) and the Guardian’s Fund will take care of her needs.
On Wednesday, Consumer Line highlighted her predicament.
We reported that she needs to go for an operation to correct paralysis she suffered after being injured in an accident in 2001.
Her mother Thembi said Nozipho, 22, was nine when she was hit by a car, suffering brain damage. The accident also left her with a dislocated left arm and paralysed left leg.
Nozipho spent a month in intensive care and when she was discharged, had still not regained consciousness.
Thembi said the doctors discharged Nozipho and sent her home to die as they had no hope she would survive.
One day Thembi heard her giggling and, when she checked, realised Nozipho
was laughing at the exploits of popular TV comedy
Emzini Wezinsizwa.
“From that day, things improved day by day as she can now move around with a crutch and alternate with a wheelchair for longer distances,” Thembi said.
The cost of the operation is estimated at R81 000 – an amount her parents do not have and cannot afford.
Thembi said RAF have undertaken to pay her daughter ’ s future medical costs following Consumer Line’s intervention.
Thembi was originally told she would have to pay upfront for medical costs and then claim back from RAF.
RAF even offered to pay for a speech therapist.
Consumer Line also had a meeting with the Deputy Master of the Guardian’s Fund, Friedelein Strauss, on Thursday that resulted in an agreement to release full compensation into Nozipho’s account.
During the meeting, it transpired that the office of the Guardian’s Fund was not informed Nozipho’s condition had improved from a vegetative state to that of a patient who has normal cognitive function.
Consumer Line has seen a report stating that Nozipho is able to understand, comment and is literate.
“The voice is a bit muffled, but she can speak and express herself,” it reads.
Strauss accepted the medical report and offered to release Nozipho’s money.
Strauss said the fund would release her money with interest.
Thembi had approached the Road Accident Fund on behalf of Nozipho after a neighbour told her she could do so without a lawyer.
After the successful claim, the RAF paid out R1.5-million for damages and future loss of earnings.
At that time, the RAF paid most of it into the Guardian’s Fund until Nozipho turned 21, and R200 000 was paid into Thembi’s bank account for Nozipho’s upbringing and immediate costs.