Ubuhlobo Society steps up to help fix wheelchair

Wheelchair-bound Thozamile Mciki was over the moon when Ubuhlobo Women's Society raised funds to help him get his motorised wheelchair fixed.

Mr Mciki said the wheelchair started giving him problems recently, with the controller needing to be replaced. But when he took it to be repaired, he was told that this type of motorised wheelchair was no longer being manufactured and they were unable to find one anywhere in the country.

He was informed that the only thing that could be done was to change the controller system - which would cost him R12 600 which he did not have.

So, he made public appeals for assistance which resulted in the women's society pledging its support.

“The wheelchair is a means of physical movement from point A to point B with minimum physical assistance from someone. Without the wheelchair my daily life routines were disoriented,” he said.

“I could not attend community programmes or go to church and attend social events that required inputs on disability issues.

“I could not therefore serve as the positive to bring about social change. My life is now restored and I'm grateful for everyone who has helped me,” he said.

Mr Mciki said the money he had received in donations had enabled him to also replace the wheels of his chair.

Explaining how he ended up in a wheelchair, he told Vukani that as a child he had been diagnosed with a rare condition calle Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva which causes muscle and connective tissue to be gradually replaced by bone and thereby, limiting movement.

Since 2017, he has been using a motorised wheelchair which helps him to move around and accommodates his disability.

Chairperson of Ubuhlobo Women’s Society, Nomfusi Mbeyiya said they started the society in 1990 as a burial society, but in 1998, they decided to start playing an active role in lending a hand to community initiatives.

When they heard Mr Mciki’s plea, she added, they decided to assist him.