An accident that resulted in amputation turned into a beautiful opportunity for a lab assistant to give back to his community
Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 1981, Langa Lakhe Ndlovu came to South Africa in search of greener pastures in 2001. He found a job at a fish distribution company. A mere three years later, he was involved in a truck accident while delivering products to customers.
He was admitted to the Union Hospital in Alberton and spent two months in a coma. At the end of the two months, his leg was amputated without his knowledge. When he woke, he had to come to terms with the fact that he lost a leg below the knee.
We met Langa for the first time at Netcare Rehab shortly after. His stump was very short with lots of scar tissue. To manufacture a leg for him was a constant battle of skin breakdown and pressure sores and countless consultations. He had a very physical job with an unforgiving boss.
Out of desperation to find solutions for all his physical problems and constant attention needed, we employed him as a cleaner with light duty work. However, we soon discovered that Langa was a very handy guy. We started to teach him how to manufacture prostheses and do leather work.
Today, almost 20 years later, Langa is one of our top laboratory assistants! His prosthetic challenges were all addressed, and solutions were found for all his complications.
He spends his days in our lab interacting with all the qualified prosthetists. He manufactures first-class prostheses. He gives so much back to us and to our patients. As he is an amputee himself, he interacts with other amputees on a different level.
What a testament to the will to survive and play your part in a community despite your circumstances! What a man among men!
