A family of 12 from Village Two in Umguza District, Matabeleland North province, is lucky to be alive after eating poisoned isitshwala/sadza on Tuesday evening.
The family members who were rushed to Mpilo Central
Hospital in the wee hours of Wednesday with severe diarrhoea and vomiting are
said to have left their maize at a local grinding mill as there were no
attendants.
One of the family members later returned to the grinding
mill to collect the mealie-meal. Police are still investigating what
transpired.
In an interview at Mpilo, Ms Rebecca Moyo said the
poisoning had left seven adults and five children battling for dear life.
She said if they had delayed getting to the hospital, they
could have easily died from dehydration as they were vomiting profusely.
“On Tuesday, my brother James Ncube took a bucket of maize
to a local grinding mill and was told to come back later as there were no
attendants. Later on, he collected mealie-meal and proceeded to his house.
His wife prepared isitshwala and they ate as a family. At
around 6PM, I went to my brother and asked for mealie-meal as I had run out. We
stay a few metres from their homestead as we are one family.
“I managed to cook isitshwala which we ate with my
grandchildren and we retired to bed. At around 10PM, one of my nephews came
knocking at my door saying the whole family had fallen sick suddenly. I rushed
there and inquired what they had eaten only to discover that it was isitshwala
and vegetables,” said Ms Moyo.
She said the condition kept deteriorating and within a few
minutes, everyone was vomiting and taking turns to use the toilet as they had
developed severe diarrhoea.
“I then decided to go back to my homestead and check on my
grandchildren who were sleeping only to discover that they too were up and
vomiting. We then called for help and one neighbour suggested that we all be
taken to the hospital.”
Ms Moyo said by the time they left, the children had soiled
their blankets and the homes were in a mess as there was vomit all over.
She said the family members got to Mpilo Central Hospital
at around 4AM and they were all admitted.
“I am happy because we all got medical attention and after
some hours, the seven of us were discharged after we recovered. Our blood
pressures were up as well but all adults were treated and discharged. Our
children and grandchildren are still admitted but the nurses have assured us
that they are recovering well. We are not sure what transpired and how our
maize meal got contaminated but we’re grateful that we didn’t die as it could
have been worse,” she said.
Ms Moyo said the grinding mill had been serving the
community for the past year and no incidents of food poisoning had been
reported before.
“We are still in shock and convinced that the mealie-meal
had something in it. We hope that the police will get to the bottom of this so
that we can move on as a family.” Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment