Pretoria - Pretoria West Hospital nursing staff pulled out all the stops to see a paraplegic man from Mozambique return to his homeland after he was abandoned by his South African girlfriend of many years.
José Niquice, 57, thought he was dreaming when the woman he had lived with for many years decided she did not want him back at their home, following an illness that saw him in hospitals since January 2019.
Niquice said after many years living in South Africa, Tshwane became his home.
He spoke the local Setswana fluently, and lived with his former partner for many years until they built a house together in Klipgat.
However, his world changed one day when he collapsed coming home from work at the local hardware store, and was taken to Odi Hospital, where he was diagnosed with TB meningitis, which took away his ability to do things for himself.
He was transferred to Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital, and later Pretoria West Hospital in November of that year.
That was when he realised he was alone and far from home.
Nursing staff at Pretoria West Hospital nursed him for nearly two years, and he became family to them as his story touched their hearts. They could not find anybody to care for him.
They discovered through a distant cousin they worked hard to find, that Niquice’s sisters got married many years ago, and like him, nobody knew where exactly they were living.
However, for Niquice, this experience taught him a lesson he hopes to teach his brothers and sisters at home.
“To my fellow foreign nationals, I would like to urge them to not lose contact with their families back home no matter how tough life might have been,” he said.
“They must be documented and they must not get here and change their names and surnames just to fit in, because that made it even more difficult for nurses to find my family because I had changed my names.
“To the young men who settle here in South Africa, I wish they can be careful with the women they pick to share their lives with. Not all are bad, of course. I was unfortunate and I would not want anyone to go through something like this.
“I want to thank the South African nurses, in particular the nurses at Pretoria West Hospital, for taking care of me for two years without being impatient with me. They became family to me and I can never thank them enough for what they have done for me. Right now I am just happy, that even if the Lord takes me, at least I will be home in my country.”
He was airlifted by the emergency medical services from Mpumalanga to Maputo Hospital yesterday. The Embassy of Mozambique facilitated his move from Pretoria to a facility in Mpumalanga.
From there, he was airlifted to his home country, where the search for a close family member who can care for him will continue while he is closer to his home village of Madolokari.
Matron Ella Matlou from the hospital said this was an exceptional case, where they could not find anybody to take care of a patient who is not a citizen of the country.
“We spent so much money pushing and fighting to put this together,” she said. “We even had to get permission for our lines to allow international calls, as we tried to interact with independent organisations abroad to help us find his family.
“We made so many trips to the Mozambique Embassy and eventually we won, and they helped up and organised documentation for him and made arrangements for the hospital in his home country to take him.”
Matlou said it was a sad moment to see him go, but hoped he could be reunited with his family.
“This experience also taught us something important as nursing staff. I want to thank the staff for what they have done for this man and others like him.”
Pretoria West Hospital spokesperson Boitshoko Letlhaku said a lot could be learnt from this experience, and also about the importance of people in government working together to help people.
She thanked Tumelo Tshela from Gauteng Emergency Medical Services for co-ordinating internal activities, and another official known only as Mr Mokoena from the institution in Mpumalanga, who dispatched the helicopter.
Pretoria News