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Tongaat Hullets brings joy to wheelchair bound woman
“Many times when people living with disability visit their relatives they are told not to sit on the sofa because they are dirty,”
Ruvimbo Muchenje
“Those that do not live with disability may not fully comprehend what this wheelchair means to me and my family,” these were the words of Isabelle Takaendesa, a wheelchair bound woman from Hatfield.
She was one of the five beneficiaries of Tongaat Huletts’s donation of 5 wheelchairs and 90 walking sticks to Visually Impaired Persons Support (VIPS) on 19 December 2025 in Epworth.
“I am grateful.for this wheelchair because, without it it means i am stationary. Without a wheelchair i have no way of moving from point A to point B,” she said.
Takaendesa suffers from a genetic disorder called muscle dystrophy.
One is born with it and it starts to manifest at different stages in life.
For Takaindisa, she could walk on her own and run even, but her body started losing power when she was 21.
She got married and had two children, one of whom took her to the charity event.
She later developed gangrene on her leg which had to be amputated earlier this year.
“I think being amputated was better because the pain was unbearable. I got the strongest of pain killers but the pain only worsened, my biggest problem.now is phantom pain,” she said.
Phantom pain is a condition where an individual experiences pain in a body part that is no longer present such as an amputated leg.
She says sometimes she takes pills to manage pain for the absent leg or feels itch on the heels of the foof that was amputated.
“Sometimes I feel an itching sensation on the heel of the amputated leg, the leg is not there but I want to scratch it. I end up ignoring it, I know it will pass,” she said.
At the same event, visually impaired persons from accross the country got walking sticks.
Chairperson of VIPS, Dr Tafara Marazi, expressed utmost gratitude for Tongaat Hullets’ benevolence saying they have done what some family members fail to do for their relatives living with disability.
“Many times when people living with disability visit their relatives they are told not to sit on the sofa because they are dirty,”
“But Tongaat Hullets has decided to be with us this Christmas season, the downtrodden, we thank you and God bless them,” he said.
