He was involved in a horrific accident that almost took his life and he is slowly learning to walk again.
Durban musician Thokozani “L'vovo Derrango” Ndlovu spent almost a month in the hospital and is on the road to recovery.
The Resista singer tells Drum that he was driving his VW Polo 7 coming from seeing his family at home in Newcastle, sober, and was alone in the car when an oncoming truck lost control.
“I can’t remember the name of the road, but it was a Tuesday around 6.30pm and I was coming from Newcastle,” he says.
“The cars were oncoming on the other side. I saw a truck carrying cement coming onto my lane. I tried to swerve to his side to avoid the driver, but he had gone back to his lane again. I hit the tip of his bumper and that made my car spin.”
He doesn’t remember much from there but recalls two people coming to help him.
“Two guys who were working at the petrol station who I think saw everything and they stopped to help. They came to my car and checked on me. I wanted to get out but they told me to wait for medical assistance. Then the paramedics and police came to the scene.”
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L’vovo says the driver of the truck drove off leaving him injured on the scene.
“The truck driver ran away. I don’t know why, he could have been intoxicated, who knows, but one of the guys helping me followed the truck. The driver then jumped off and ran. But he was found because the truck belongs to someone.” L’vovo hasn’t yet spoken to the police and was waiting to recover and try to remember everything that happened.
“I haven’t spoken to the police but have been in touch with an investigating officer. I wanted to recover first,” he says.
“I was very confused. I was in shock and still had that fear. Everything happened so quickly. I realized later that I was involved in an accident. My family came to see me and that’s when the whole thing became a reality.”
There were reports that he was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but L’vovo says he was only in High Care.
“I won’t lie, I took the accident lightly until I started feeling excruciating pain after three days. But I was not in ICU. I am not sure where people got that information.”
He later learned how serious the injuries were.
"I had dislocated my hip. I couldn’t walk coz the hip was moved, and they had to replace it. I had an injury to my right knee and a knot on my left. I have bruises on my face and the airbags hit me on the ribs, causing injuries,” he says.
L’vovo had a hip replacement operation that took four hours instead of two hours.
“I have everything to be grateful for,” he says.
On 2 June, he will be discharged to recover at home.
“The doctor says it will take me two months to be fully mobile again and do the things I used to do. I was using a walking ring and now I am on crutches. I just want to heal properly.”
L’vovo might be in pain and still getting flashbacks, but he is grateful to be alive.
“I am grateful to God and my ancestors. You should see the car. It was completely written off,” he says.
“This whole thing just made me realise that we take life for granted at the time. Life is too short and fragile. You have to be grateful each day for the smaller things in life like shelter, food, family, and breathing.” Being in hospital for this long gave him time to reflect as an entertainer who is always busy and on the go.
“I have almost been rebooted and starting all over again. I see life differently now. This was a lesson that I need to take good care of myself and rest. We want money but we must be able to rest and put our health first.”
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Last year L’vovo experienced a tragedy when his mother passed away. He mourned her passing by sharing a post on social media.
“Dear mama, thank you for being my mother, a friend, a pillar, and an advisor. I’m the man I am today because of your teaching. You gave me everything I wanted in life, raising me as a single parent, thank you,” he wrote.
“You were always there for me, giving me support in whatever I was doing, never judged me. Ungifundisile ukumazi unkulunkulu nokumesaba [You taught me to know and fear God].”
