Meet Ayabulele

Nosiphe watches over her little one as he rests on the bed beside her.

The Trauma Ward is usually a very quiet place. Most of the little ones have just come from the Emergency Center or ICU.

Ayabulele is ten. He sits up in bed for a while. His eyes tell a tired story of pain and trauma. There is an incomprehensible sadness in the eyes of children who have been hurt. It’s the same sadness we see creeping across Nosiphe’s gaze as she turns towards her son. Quietly she watches as her little one lies down again. His left leg is in a massive cast with metal rods down it.

Dr Hammaad Gamieldien says it’s called an “external fixator”. “We use it when the bone has protruded through the skin, “ he says.

Nosiphe wasn’t there when the accident happened. Ayabulele had just finished the school day and was going to soccer practice in his hometown of Vredenberg. “Ayabulele loves soccer. He has been playing since he was five,” Nosiphe tells us, her pride evident.

She was at work when the car struck her son. The driver immediately picked up the wounded child and drove him to the local hospital.

As soon as the driver could, he then went in search of Ayabulele’s mom. He tracked down her relatives, who soon led him to Nosiphe’s workplace. He rushed her to see her son at the hospital in Vredenberg.

When Nosiphe arrived at the hospital, she was told they would be transferred to Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital as soon as the ambulance arrived. It was an evening of waiting and worrying for Nosiphe.

This very dignified lady calmly catalogues the passage of events. She lists, with practised objectivity, the extent of her son’s injuries.

“Upon arrival at Red Cross, we went via the Emergency Center, where we were told that X-rays needed to be taken, and that was done. And from there, he had to do some operations. They said his jaw was broken, and some teeth had come out. So, they had to operate on his mouth. After they were done with his mouth, they operated on his leg, the Ex Fixture.”

The Ex Fix is the external fixator that Dr Gamieldien explained is a device placed on a hand, arm, foot or leg to help keep the bones in place and is used primarily when the bone has pierced through the skin.

Nosiphe is still trying to process the trauma.

Vredenberg is too far away for her family to visit and give her the support she needs. She sits quietly at Ayabulele’s side.

But if you look into her eyes, you see someone who needs protection and comfort just as much as she delivers it.

Dr Gamieldien says that it is likely that Ayabulele may have to recuperate at an offsite facility.

Nosiphe doesn’t waste a moment feeling sorry for herself. All her energy is focused on her son.

It will be a long road to recovery for Ayabulele, but he won’t be alone. It will be difficult for his mom in many ways, but she won’t be alone.

The Children’s Hospital has seen many moms like Nosiphe enters their doors.

The life-saving care Red Cross provides for the children of these mothers is a miracle that works best when the mothers, themselves, receive the same kind of care, comfort and protection that they give so generously and unconditionally to their children.