Pumula girl's limbs fall off, witchcraft suspected

IN a suspected case of witchcraft, a Pumula family in Bulawayo has been left dumbfounded and in distress after their six-year-old daughter developed a "mysterious" disease that resulted in her left hand falling off.

As if the trauma of losing her first limb was not enough, her remaining left hand has since desiccated and is at an advanced stage of decay.

The girl, Melta Zodwa Ncube, lost one of her limbs sometime between May and July this year.

It is reported that the girl started experiencing pain in her limbs sometime in February this year, while she was at her rural home in Lupane.

The girl's mother, Mrs Gloria Ncube, said she took her daughter to a clinic in Lupane but nurses there could not find anything amiss with the girl.

The nurses failed to diagnose her illness and merely prescribed pain killers before referring her to St Luke's Hospital in Lupane.

"When she started complaining of pains in her hands I took her to a clinic where she was referred to St Luke's and then to Mpilo. When we got to Mpilo my daughter was diagnosed with a rare disorder they said was gangrenous," she said.

Mrs Ncube said she thought her daughter's condition would improve when she was admitted to Mpilo and was given several injections but instead her condition deteriorated.

"Instead of her condition improving it worsened. A few days after they gave my daughter injections, her hands began turning black and rubbery like those of a doll. That is when her right limb fell off," said a distraught Mrs Ncube.

After this happened Mrs Ncube said she sought the aide of "prophets" as she thought scientific methods had failed.

"The doctors failed to help my daughter and I discharged my daughter from hospital and sought the help of a prophet, who told us her condition was being orchestrated by witchcraft. He then gave my daughter holy water to ward off evil spirits, which he said had surrounded her," she said.

Ironically, Mrs Ncube said her daughter's condition improved, as she said her daughter stopped experiencing pain.

"It is clear that this is the work of the devil, this is the worst kind of witchcraft one can ever experience. What sort of disease results in arms falling off? It is really queer and we are finding it hard to come to terms with it," she added.

Mrs Ncube also said their hopes of finding a cure for her child had been dashed as her child's condition was not improving.

"We have lost all hope of finding a cure for my daughter and are thus appealing to anyone who can come to our assistance before our child passes away while we watch. Who knows what will fall off next," she said.

Mrs Ncube thus appealed to members of the public to assist her with cash or kind for her daughter, as she unemployed and her husband is late.

"I struggle to make ends meet and this condition has made life a living hell. I am appealing to all members of the public for assistance in cash or kind to save my daughter's life and to at least get her to a school that caters for the handicapped," she said.

Contacted for comment, Mpilo Clinical Director Dr Wedu Ndebele, who examined the child when the family sought medical assistance, declined to shed some light into the issue and accused the family of "storming out" of the hospital when he tried to advise them on the condition.

"They refused to follow the procedure and stormed out of the hospital before I could advise them about the child's condition," he said.

According to research, gangrenous is the death and decay of body tissue, often occurring in a limb, caused by insufficient blood supply and usually following injury or disease.

Gangrenous or gangrene, as it is also known, is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies.

This may occur after an injury or infection or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation

The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood supply to the affected tissues, which results in cell death.

Diabetes and long-term smoking increase the risk of gangrene.