“I can even take my shirt off for you, to show you just how bad this is. I don’t care if the whole world sees my body – this I can no longer endure,” Sigidla Ndumo said when he came to the Grocott's Mail offices on Monday last week.
“I can even take my shirt off for you, to show you just how bad this is. I don’t care if the whole world sees my body – this I can no longer endure,” Sigidla Ndumo said when he came to the Grocott's Mail offices on Monday last week.
The man was in such pain that he had to compose himself before describing his story of suffering to a reporter. Ndumo, who lives in D street, Fingo Village, was diagnosed with psoriasis (a chronic inflammatory skin disease, which has no specific known cause or cure) in 1995.
At that time he was living in Cape Town, where he ran a pre-school sponsored by the Grahamstown Rotary Club. Treatment was given to him at Groote Schuur Hospital that kept the skin condition under control, including a cream that eased the itchiness that psoriasis causes.
In 2001 Ndumo retired and returned to live with his family in Grahamstown. His Cape Town doctor gave him a prescription that Settlers' Hospital was supposed to continue administering to him, but the doctors here told him that Settlers' didn't have the necessary treatment. He was however assured that it would be ordered for him with immediate effect.
That was ten years ago, and Ndumo has received no treatment from Settlers'. His condition has become worse and has spread all over his body, covering his back, stomach and both legs. “I’m in unbearable pain. I've been waiting for the doctors at Settlers' Hospital to order treatment for me since 2001,” Ndumo told Grocott's Mail.
"If I had the means I would go to Cape Town to get the treatment, but I can't due to financial constraints," he said. As well as being diabetic and suffering from high blood pressure, Ndumo complained that his skin is peeling off profusely, which was visible by the flakes of skin that covered his black pants during the interview.
Whenever he goes to Settlers', Ndumo said that he never fails to remind the doctors of the treatment they're supposed to order for him. "My body is aching and I can't sleep at night," the desperate man said, while doctors continue to give him Panados and Aspirins, which he said are ineffective. “I understand that the disease is incurable, but it can be kept under control with the correct medication,” he explained.
“I fail to understand why the hospital has not ordered the medication for me; I can't afford to go to Cape Town all the time to get treatment.” His ailment is causing him so much distress that he said he can no longer live like this.
“I can even take my shirt off for you, to show you just how bad this is. I don’t care if the whole world sees my body – this I can no longer endure,” Ndumo said. When Grocott's Mail contacted the hospital, Settlers' CEO Bongiwe Moyake said she was aware of Ndumo's case, and confirmed that he came to meet her on Monday to discuss his situation.
"He told me that he had been coming to the hospital seeking treatment in previous years, but it was my first time seeing him on Monday," she said. She asked him to bring the prescription given to him by his Groote Schuur doctor, but then Ndumo didn't come back. When asked why he didn't return, Ndumo said that he is ill and bed-ridden due to his condition, but said that he would go back to the hospital as soon as he was well enough.
