After miraculously walking away from death’s door five years ago, Kalib Missoe has dedicated his life to giving back to Belhar residents.
In April 2015 while he was in Grade 9 at Bellville Technical High, Kalib was on the wrong end of a bad rugby tackle that left him brain dead.
“After I was tackled, I felt some pain, but the next day at school I fainted after my vision became blurry and I started vomiting,” recalls Kalib.
“A few days later I suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital and they performed a CAT scan which showed that I had swelling on my brain.
“I ended up lying on the hospital bed for seven days when the doctors told my parents that I was brain dead and they had to decide whether or not to pull the plug because they said I would be [in a vegetative state] for the rest of my life.
“My father decided that they should pull the plug, but while my family and the pastor gathered around my body to say goodbye, I came back.”
The 21-year-old said after giving his family the shock of their lives, doctors put him back on the machines and he began his recovery.
“After months of rehab, I went back to school in November that same year and when I finished school, I wanted to study sports science, but I think God had a bigger plan for me, which was to give back to my community.”
In 2019, Kalib started the National Youth Development League, an organisation dedicated to helping the people of Belhar.
“During the lockdown we managed to join the Food Relief Alliance of SA, which is a network of organisations who gather food donations and share it among each other,” he says.
“This allowed us to make food parcels and also provide meals to people in the area on Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays.”
“We also approached a few organisations that were able to provide us with stationery that allowed us to make packs to deliver to children in Belhar, Uitsig and Delft,” he adds.
“We were also able to get 56 scientific calculators that we donated to children who needed them to do their exams.”