Durban – Seventeen-year-old Mhlengi Dumisa was admitted to Victoria Mxenge Hospital in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, to have an infected appendix removed, but inexplicably, surgeons amputated parts of his hands and legs instead.
That was four years ago, but the matter remains unresolved, with the hospital, previously known as King Edward, steadfastly denying that staff were negligent, resulting in the amputations.
Originally from Lindelani D Township Section, eThekwini, Mhlengi, who has relocated to Pietermaritzburg, says the hospital where he went to seek treatment caused him irreparable harm that has ruined his life.
The teenager was still coming to terms with his unfortunate situation when he spoke to The Bulrushes.
Sitting on the sofa made the amputations more pronounced; his legs, minus the feet, hung several centimetres above the floor, and his arms had no hands.
Narrating the painful events that led to his multiple amputations, Mhlengi said he had been diagnosed with an appendix problem when he was hospitalised.
However, the medication he was being treated with was affecting his veins, which he said had turned blue, before he developed blisters.
“I was recovering and placed in high-care, but my limbs developed blisters,” lamented the broken teenager.
“On my left hand, the blister burst, and flies began swarming the wound.
“When I raised it with the nurses, they told me flies were no harm and that the wound needed air.”
The teenager recalled that it was only after a doctor intervened that nurses were instructed to cover the wound.
Two days later, when the dressing was removed to clean the wound, it was infested with maggots.
“They had eaten almost everything, including the bone,” said Mhlengi.
The teenager said doctors suggested multiple partial amputations to save his limbs.
While he was not keen, Mhlengi said his mother was persuaded to sign consent forms for the amputations to go ahead.
“I remember saying only my left hand could be amputated because the maggots were eating me, but I woke up to find all my limbs gone,” he said.
Mhlengi’s distraught mother, Nqobile Dumisa, who is of modest means, struggled to hold back tears as she explained her son’s predicament and ensuing struggles without limbs.
“I am really hurt, how this situation has turned out,” the amputated teenager’s mother, Dumisa, said.
“My son was only 13 years old when he was admitted to High Care at Victoria Mxenge Hospital.
“I did not expect my son’s to be amputated, because we were only getting to the hospital for another case, which is stomach issues, not what led to him being amputated.”
Dumisa also complained about the way doctors handled the matter.
Before the amputations, when her son was experiencing excoriating pain, Dumisa recalled: “Doctors informed me that if there is anything that I believe in, maybe ancestors, I should go and pray, as the situation was very tense”.
Several years later, with her son facing challenges, Dumisa opened up to The Bulrushes, saying the matter remains unresolved.
Although the spokesperson failed to respond to questions posed by The Bulrushes, Head of the Department of Health, Dr. Sandile Shabalala, commented on the matter some years ago.
Dr. Shabalala went on the record during an interview, stating that “worse could have happened” to the patient.
Dr. Shabalala said the doctors were not to blame.
Unable to get satisfactory answers from the hospital, Dumisa said she turned to the courts to seek justice.
She said that in 2023, the matter was scheduled for pre-trial proceedings, but the state lawyers failed to show up on the date.
Dumisa said the court issued a new date for the case.
The pre-trial matter was eventually heard in court on 10 June 2024.
Dumisa said that because the hospital was disputing her claim that her son’s amputations were a result of negligence, the court sent him for a medical check-up.
Dumisa says she is waiting for a new court date.
The poor woman stands at a crossroads as she seeks justice from what she sees as an uncaring hospital that refuses to take responsibility for what it did to her teenage son.
Her pain was amplified when she shared a picture of Mhlengi before he entered the hospital all those years ago,
