Doctor George Mothupi disappeared into a crowd of protestors and snuck through barricades to get to the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital.
Doctor George Mothupi is the head of the maternity department at the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital. During recent protests in April, he was called to the hospital to help. There was a woman in need of acute care. Dr Mothupi knew his duty was to his patients, so he dressed in plain clothes and walked to the hospital to help.
The walk was not an easy one. His home was on the opposite side of the hospital, which meant, he would have to walk through violent protests, face intimidation and get past barricades to get near the hospital. There was no transport available for him to take.
“The matron told me there was a patient who needed acute care. It was not going to be possible for the patient to be transferred anywhere with roads barricaded. A doctor was needed on site urgently,”
The hospital had taken some strain over the last few weeks, with its own strikes just a week earlier, it was completely deserted on this day. People couldn’t get past the protest, or didn’t want to brave it alone. They were stuck without transport or feared for their lives. Whoever was in the hospital by the time the strikes in the city started, was on duty until they ended, unable to leave the patients unattended.
“Town was strangely quiet with all businesses closed. I decided to join a few others who were walking towards the hospital but was worried about the protest-ridden Danville township between myself and the hospital,”
“It was the adrenalin of the unknown. What’s going to happen when I pass Danville and on the other side? What’s going to happen to that patient if I don’t get there?
“I walked as far away from the crowd barricading the road as I could.” He said he arrived at a group of youths who had set up a “tollgate” and were demanding R10 to let people pass.
“I don’t know how I managed to pass that point without paying, but I did.”
Dr Mothupi walked 3km in 30 minutes, arriving at the hospital unharmed and ready to help deliver babies. As he arrived, he was pulled into an emergency c-section which was successful and hours later, mother and child were safe and healthy.
In four hours, he managed to deliver 8 babies, 3 of which were through c-section. It was unsafe to leave that late, so he stayed and tended to the patients.
“What drives us is to see that smile on the patient. They’re dear to our hearts. Maternity care is something else because here we’re taking care of a pregnant mother and an unborn baby. I call them my cocaine. My patients make me the happiest man and there I was, mission accomplished, lives saved and babies delivered.”
With no food available, not even tea or coffee, Dr Mothupi and his team stayed strong by drinking water and focusing on their job at hand. He left the hospital the next day, a hero!
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