It sounds more fiction than real, but a young girl got her right leg amputated after she was bitten by an Ant.
By Stanford Chivale
An ECD B pupil at Mpakati Primary School in Chikombedzi, Felistus Tavengwa is now walking on self-made clutches from a Mopane tree.
Her single mother cannot afford to buy modern clutches. She is a peasant farmer and this year it was difficult for her to till the land because she spent most of her time in hospital with the child.
Felistus was born on 21 June 2015. A month later, her mother left her lying on a reed mat while she was doing her household chores.
She was later forced to attend to the girl after a hard cry from the baby.
She went to pick her from where she was lying and discovered that a large brown Ant had deposited its “teeth” into the child’s flesh.
The mother removed and squashed it, but the damage was already done.
The following day, the baby was taken to a nearby clinic where she was attended to but referred to Chiredzi General hospital.
Because of her poor condition, her mother could not immediately take her to hospital, only to do so a week later.
Her baby’s leg continued to swell. By the time she was finally taken to hospital, the leg was already rotting and throwing a very strong smell.
Doctors at Chiredzi General hospital referred the girl to Masvingo hospital where she had the leg amputated. “It was a mystery that I can’t even forget.
My child was beaten by an Ant on the right leg. That Ant bite is the one that has condemned her to this level.
“She looks very bright at school and her teacher often encourages me not to give up on her” the mother said.
During opening of schools, the woman starts her day very hard.
“If schools are opened, I start my day by taking Felistus to school on my back, and also pick her up after school. I go back home and go straight to the fields or garden knowing that I have to collect the child from school in the afternoon” she said.
The woman is appealing for help to have her child go for a final operation on the leg.
The leg is now having a protruding bone that needs to be cut.
She also needs clutches to walk on. After her first operation, the doctor made it clear that because of her age, the born is going to protrude.
He also said it will only be cut after the girl is 5 years.
“She is now 5 years and this is the time she must be operated. She is always in pain because of this bone. It irritates her very much. I can’t afford the money that is needed for my child to be operated. After the operation, there is need for an artificial leg that I cannot afford. I am appealing for help from any one to have my child operated. She looks brilliant in class” she said.
