Last week, three years after a fireman saw a tot running on her stumps in Kwa- Nobuhle, the child walked on her prosthetic legs for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legs of Siphosethu \u201cSisi\u201d Ncandana (7) were amputated at the knees at the age of two. She was born with a condition that caused the upper part of her legs to develop normally but the lower part of her legs and her feet were malformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alton Senekal of the KwaNobuhle Fire Department first saw Sisi in 2015 playing in the street, after he had extinguished a fire in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn that day she had been playing with a group of friends. I remember how she ran on her stumps, and I could not help feeling pain when I thought of the raw tar against her skin,\u201d said Senekal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lungile Mni, his colleague who rode with him, happened to know where Sisi lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI myself have a four-year-old daughter \u2013 if that had been my daughter, who would have helped her?\u201d said Senekal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mni and Senekal visited Sisi\u2019s house, where they learned that she had not lost only her legs. Both her parents died shortly after her birth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sisi was left in the care of her grandmother, Pinky Ncandana (71) who at that point was blind in one eye and had only 10% vision in her other eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe also learned that Sisi had been turned away from school because the local school did not have the resources to accommodate her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the visit, Senekal saw to acquiring a wheelchair for Sisi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within four months the local clinic had a wheelchair ready for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senekal even made arrangements to send Ncandana for an eye operation, and she now has about 80% vision in her eye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Senekal did not stop there. He wanted to make sure that one day Sisi could wear shoes and walk again on prosthetic legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cActually, I did not do much. I only made arrangements and saw to it that there was transport for the back-and-forth driving to and from the hospital,\u201d he said modestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Sisi had undergone an operation to prepare her stumps for the prosthetic legs, last week everything was ready to offer her new freedom on her prosthetic legs, with brand-new school shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe moment when she put on her legs was overwhelming. She even took a few steps. Only after a few exercises and lessons with the physiotherapist will she be able to walk with ease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senekal says Sisi is very much spurred on and is full of enthusiasm and he believes that those artificial legs will give her even more self-confidence to face a bright future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week, three years after a fireman saw a tot running on her stumps in Kwa- Nobuhle, the child walked on her prosthetic legs for the first 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