After her accident, Edwina Makgamatha made a commitment to live an independent life and not feel sorry for herself. In the process she found her calling by helping others too.
Edwina Makgamatha knows first-hand the struggles and shame of not being able to access services because of a disability.
This is why she decided to start a business that helps those like her to easily receive medical supplies like catheters in the comfort of their homes with her business Thusanang Enabling Support Services. She co-runs the business with Sandra Khumalo, a rowing Paralympian champion who also uses a wheelchair.
After an accident at 21, she dealt with the trauma of being told as a young woman she may not be able to have children after breaking her pelvic bone.
“I felt this void inside,” Makgamatha said. But, two years after the accident, Makgamatha had her first son and, a year later, her second.
But the happiness of her miracle children was short-lived when she had a second car accident, this time a hit-and-run by a drunken driver which left her spine broken. The driver was never arrested and Makgamatha, at 33, became a wheelchair user after a car accident.
“I flew out of the window and broke my spine,” she said. “I spent three weeks in ICU and three months in a rehab centre. We tend to curse the bad times in our lives, forgetting that God said everything works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose, and everything includes the bad things we encounter.”
“In the beginning it used to make me bitter because justice was not served. But I realised it’s not going to serve me any joy to do that, so I let it go.”
“It’s all part of the divine plan and frankly, if it were not for my accidents, I would not have thought of the idea,” she said.
Makgamatha spent over three months in a rehabilitation centre in Pretoria and despite news that she would never walk again, she chose to remain positive.
“There was a lady who shared a ward with me. She was way worse than me. She had quadriplegia, diabetes and high blood pressure. All she wanted to do was have one arm move so she could brush her teeth properly.
“That’s it. That’s all she wanted. That uplifted me,” Makgamatha said.
It was after her release from hospital when she realised the problem of getting supplies for her medical needs, and that’s when the idea for Thusanang Enabling Support Services was born.
She made a commitment to live an independent life and not feel sorry for herself.
The company gives support such as medicine, and counselling services to disabled people after they have been discharged from hospital. It works with the Road Accident Fund to educate disabled people on how to use their payout.
“Being discharged was challenging because South Africa is not an accessible place at all (for people with disabilities). It is difficult, I was confident and wanted to go out there and live my life, but you go to the mall and there are stairs everywhere and you have to ask people for help.”
“I needed a new catheter. Most people don’t know what size their catheter is or where to get it. You move around pharmacies and you have to demonstrate to them the size. That’s embarrassing because by the time you go looking for a new one, the one you have is old. “
“That is what got me to say: ‘now that I know how to get these things, can I not make them accessible for everyone?’”
Rather than deliver to a post office, she chose the home delivery system because it is more comfortable for people with disabilities.
“This service is run by a person with a disability who understands the challenges better. We understand exactly what the other person is going through. You cannot deliver at the post office because that is inaccessible to them we make sure we deliver items to their doorstep.”
With home deliveries, Makgamatha is also able to offer her clients advice on using the products and how to avoid infections, or more general advice on coping with their disability.
She also had to readjust caring for and nurturing her young children.
“If I wanted to play with them I would put them on my lap. The big one would push me (in the wheelchair) and move around the yard. With a disability you always have to find ways to make these things happen,” she said.
Makgamatha believes being independent, parenting and running a business as a person with a disability should not be the exception, but the norm. She said all persons with disabilities wanted to do is be able to participate fully in society.
“People are not aware about disability in general; not only physical but all the other types like being blind or deaf.
“There are a lot of challenges for people with disabilities. They are given jobs at call centres. There are a lot of qualified people out there (but) they do not get hired for what they are worth.
“Ergonomics (or designing or arranging workplaces, products and systems so that they fit the people who use them) is very important, you need to be comfortable and be accommodated,” she said.
And now Makgamatha will be taking part in the world’s only race with no finish line – the Wings for Life World Run (World Run) – which is heading back to our streets for the fifth consecutive year and will take place on Sunday, 6 May 2018 at 13h00 at SuperSport Park in Centurion, Tshwane.
Taking place at numerous locations around the world, World Run calls on those who ‘can’, to run for those who can’t, with 100% of the R175 entry fee for the event donated towards efforts to find a cure for spinal cord injury.
“As the world celebrates International Wheelchair day, we are reminded of those living with spinal cord injury,” says Paralympian, Laureus nominee and World Run Ambassador Pieter du Preez.
“The Wings for Life Foundation invests in vital research projects to find a cure for spinal cord injury – something that is not as far away as we might think.”
The World Run charity event successfully got the world running as one and continues to bring together people from all walks of life in support of an incredibly worthy cause. Whether you’re a marathon runner, a fitness novice or wheelchair-bound athlete, the World Run is a run anyone can participate in – no matter their fitness level or background.
Come rain or shine, wind or snow, participants all over the world show up to walk, run or roll along the pre-determined course, trying to stay ahead of the Catcher Car that chases down participants, ending their race as the car overtakes them until one male and one female World Champion remains.
For those not participating in the official race, the Wings for Life World Run App enables anyone around the globe to be part of the global movement. By activating the App, runners can take part in the World Run, chased by a virtual Catcher Car, at the same time as all Wings for Life World Runners across the globe. You can download the App via Google Play or iTunes and set your own course.
“Our goal this year is to encourage even more South Africans to join the run than ever before. We need you, no matter who you are, to pledge your support and enter to take part in the run, and encourage your friends and family to enter too! The more people we have participating, the better our chances of finding a cure for spinal cord injury,” Du Preez says.
Entries are open and available at Wings for Life. Join in Centurion or download the App and be a part of the movement that raised over R97million in 2017 and saw runners from 189 nationalities running 1,431,183km across the globe.
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