BY NOTHANDO DUBE
A 12 year-old Hwange girl, who was injured by a bomb explosion while playing at home last year, is struggling to cope because of the permanent injuries that she suffered.
Samantha Mudimba from Simangani Village was playing with her friends at her parents’ homestead on February 17 last year after the device went off, leaving her for dead.
Mudimba had one of her legs amputated after the life altering injuries and she still has a bomb fragment lodged in her chest.
Her mother Ziphora Chuma told VicFallsLive that her daughter’s life has been tough since the incident.
Chuma relived the near death incident, which left the family scrambling for help to get Mudimba to a proper medical facility in time to save her life.
“Samantha was playing with three other children at the homestead when we heard a loud explosion sound,” Chuma narrated their ordeal.
“As we went outside to check what had happened I saw Samantha lying down in a pool of blood and the bones from her right leg were scattered all over the place while the other child had her eye severely injured as well.
“Only a bit of flesh from her foot and leg were hanging from the muscles and we were confused.
“We couldn’t understand what was happening. She was in pain and bleeding profusely.”
Chuma said they immediately took her badly injured daughter to a local clinic where she was transferred to the Hwange Colliery Company hospital and later to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo the same day.
Doctors decided to amputate the girl’s leg three days later to save her life.
Mudimba said the bomb shrapnel still lodged in her chest caused her a lot of discomfort.
“There is a metal object in my chest, a piece of the bomb, which is not causing me much pain at the moment but my chest often gets itchy and I can’t get used to it” Samantha said.
Chuma said they were yet to be informed about the origins of the bomb.
“We are yet to know where the bomb came from but it was confirmed by the Zimbabwe National Army that it was a bomb,” she added.
“We have no idea whether it was underground or it was thrown and it landed on these children.
“Samantha stayed at the hospital for a month so that she could be monitored by medical staff.
“She was away from school for 10 months, which has disturbed her performance.”
Mudimba now walks with the aid of crutches.
Two well-wishers donated a motorcycle to assist with her mobility as her school is some distance from her home.