A 48-year-old primary school teacher, who died after
setting herself on fire as a result of Covid-19 depression and the stigma
attached to it, was yesterday wedded by her husband in an extraordinary
symbolic wedding ahead of her official burial tomorrow.
The private traditional ceremony took place yesterday at
the couple's Crystal Park home in Benoni on the East Rand.
The woman succumbed to severe burn injuries last Thursday
after being in the intensive care unit of a local hospital for a month.
Before she died, the harrowing details of the teacher's
attempted suicide were exclusively reported in Sowetan last month when the
woman's husband told of how he planned to embark on a community education
campaign aimed at de-stigmatising people infected by the virus.
The husband, a high school principal, has subsequently
tested positive too.
Speaking to Sowetan yesterday, he said he was on day eight
of self-isolation. He revealed that he tested positive after going back to work
on July 8 following the incident of his wife's attempt to take her own life.
He further told Sowetan that a total of seven people have
tested positive at his school and he was one of them "even though I had
tested negative when my wife was tested positive".
He said as an "advocating campaigner", he has
been able to calm his fellow colleagues who tested positive and their families
as well.
The 51-year-old, whose name is being withheld to protect
their children, had previously told this newspaper how he battled to save his
wife from the flames engulfing her isolation room in their home.
He was wearing full personal protective gear (equipment)
during the private wedding which was attended by family and friends at the
family home late yesterday.
He again recalled that fateful day on June 6 after his wife
had been in quarantine at home for 11 days. He had not noticed that his wife
"was losing it after all the support we had offered to her".
He recalled how his wife woke up that morning at around 4am
when everybody was still asleep.
He and their 17-year-old son also woke up and checked if
she was fine before they went back to bed.
"After a while we realised there was something
burning. I ran to her isolation room. It was locked.
"I broke the door open and found her in flames. I
immediately took a blanket and tried to put out the fire until my brave
eight-year-old child ran to fetch a bucket of water which she emptied on her
mom in an attempt to rescue her," the man told Sowetan at the time.
The man again recalled how he was not aware that his wife
was "depressed from receiving messages on social media from friends and
colleagues".
He said she had complained about being sent messages that
made her feel like she was dying. She also complained about gossip that came
from colleagues and friends.
He yesterday told of how his wife was always looking
forward to her big traditional wedding that was put on hold when the national
lockdown was announced in March. They had been planning their wedding since
last year.
"She was excited to be going to wear her isiSwati
wedding gown. We are still going to honour that wish because she will now be
buried wearing it."
The father of two met his wife in 1991 while he was
travelling in a taxi in Daveyton.
"I jumped out at the wrong stop just to go and talk to
her because she caught my attention. She was with her two friends."
He said his wife was a mother to many children besides her
own. She taught him how to love all children unconditionally. Many of those
children who are now working "come to our home from time to time to thank
her for the role she played in their education." sOWETAN
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