MAMELLO Mokatisi was born healthy, but these days she’s unable to play or do activities like other children.
This is because the 12-year-old from Lebowakgomo, Limpopo, suffers from TB meningitis, which has left her in a wheelchair!
When she was nine, she started sleeping more than other children and missed a lot of school.
When her condition got worse, her worried parents took her for medical care and she ended up in Polokwane Hospital with the right side of her body paralysed.
Her mum, Nthabeleng (36) told Daily Sun when her child first started getting sick she was in the Free State and Mamello was living with her father.
“When I visited, her right hand was not working and it soon got worse.
“We used to take her for check-ups but we stopped in 2012 because I’m unemployed and have no help.
“If I’m not around, she won’t eat and she’s unable to go to the toilet. She has to wear nappies, but I can’t afford to buy them every month.
“Mamello is not going to school because I’m unable to afford a special school. She’s always in the house and she can’t play with the other children.”
Nthabeleng said she believed if her daughter had been given exercises to do when the problem first started, it would not have advanced this far.
She also believes her daughter would have been in a better state if she had gone to see a specialist.
Dr Tshifhiwa Makhomisane said the child needed to be hospitalised and get treatment for TB for nine months. He said TB meningitis was actually a treatable disease.
Anyone who’s willing to help Mamello should contact Daily Sun on 076 713 0520.
