A mom, whose disabled son was left disfigured after he was mauled by pit bulls, is looking for assistance in getting him into a school that’ll meet his medical needs.
Life has not been easy for the Cramford family living in Philippi East, where 38-year-old Zanele has spent years caring for her eight-year-old whose life has been centred around hospital visits.
On his second birthday, Siphelo suffered a seizure that left him blind, deaf, mute and unable to walk, and doctors said he would never recover.
Then, in 2021, having managed to beat the odds by learning to walk and could see and hear in one ear, he was attacked by two pit bulls – an attack that left him without earlobes.
Siphelo has since developed a pica disorder where he eats his clothes.
Zanele says two years ago, she left her son with a neighbour who owned two pit bulls, as she went to Watergate Mall to buy his disposable nappies.
When she returned, she found a group of children at the house.
“They shouted that Siphelo was being attacked by the dogs, I ran into the yard and fought the dogs off my child, each one had sunk teeth into my son’s ears and head.”
She says pieces of skin were hanging off the sides of her son’s face.
At Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, she was told that 98% of his ears were bitten off, and he had to stay there for five months.
Now the single mom is desperately looking for a school to accommodate her son, so that she can get a job and support all five of her children.
“I have no job, I can barely survive with the R1 990 grant because there is so much that he needs.”
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said Zanele should contact the Metro South district office and request assistance for placement of her child, as there are 76 special schools in the province.
Weekend Argus