A 25-YEAR-OLD woman is battling for life at the United
Bulawayo Hospitals after she was mauled by her landlord’s five vicious dogs in
West Somerton suburb.
Ms Cherish Muchegwa sustained serious injuries after she
was bitten by the dogs resulting in her being hospitalised at Mater Dei
Hospital before she was transferred to the UBH as she could not afford the
bills at the private hospital.
Her husband Mr Joseph Masaiti said his wife survived the
horrific dog attack leaving her with serious injuries on her legs and hands.
Mr Masaiti said his wife was attacked by the dogs two weeks
ago and is still hospitalised.
“She was seriously bitten on her hands and legs. She can
hardly move and is still admitted to UBH. However, I want to dismiss a social
media message that is circulating appealing for donations. It has a lot of
distorted information. The amount that was mentioned there is just too little,
the hospitals bills are almost clocking RTGS$11 000 now, yet the message is
suggesting that the bill is nearly $7 000,” he said.
Mr Masaiti said the family has done its best to try and
raise the required funds for the hospital bill as well as medication but due to
the nature of the injuries the money they have raised falls short.
“We are therefore are appealing for assistance as the
landlord is not taking any responsibility. For accountability purposes those
who want to assist us can pay the hospital bill directly to the hospital while
those who want to buy medicines can contact me on 0773 960 966. I am willing to
produce receipts for the medicines bought,” he said.
The owner of the dogs was identified only as Mrs Mlalazi. Her son Mr Benacious Mlalazi said it was not true that they
were not helping the family with medical bills.
Mr Mlalazi said the family has been heavily involved in the
case from the day of the incident.
He said they were
also not sure how the dogs attacked Ms Muchegwa as she has lived at the house
for nearly two years.
Mr Mlalazi said they even invited the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) but it did not find anything wrong with
them. “The SPCA took away two of the dogs saying we had exceeded the limit on
the number of dogs that can be kept in residential homes. But we are definitely
assisting the family where we can,” he said.
Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Judith Ncube said she
visited Ms Muchegwa at the hospital.
Speaking during a
service to mourn Cyclone Idai victims at Harvest House International Church
yesterday, Minister Ncube appealed to well-wishers to assist the family pay up
the medical bills. “I visited her at the hospital. She had to be moved from
Mater Dei Hospital to UBH as her family could not pay the bills. The hospital
bills that she accrued are already too high. I therefore appeal to those who
can assist the family in paying the bills to do so,” she said. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment