Zuki's Fighting Spirit

Wheelchair-bound mother pushes the boundaries to lead a normal life.

- Bongani Mdakane

AFTER being shot during a car hijacking incident in 2007 while on her way to meet friends to celebrate her new job, single mom Zuki Nzo (35) never thought that she would live a normal life again.

Zuki says that the incident left her shattered after she was told by doctors that she would never be able to walk again. In the middle of this hopeless situation, she was able to gain her fighting spirit. She was determined to live a normal life again. Despite her disability, Zuki still managed to follow her dreams, and she is currently a business development manager at Shaft Sinkers Mining.

TRAUMA AND ANGER 

She says that after the shooting incident, she thought her life and dreams were shattered.

“When I found out that I couldn’t walk anymore, I was devastated and angry,” she says, adding that she didn’t think she could fall pregnant. She now has a son, Kezzy (6), who is in Grade 1.

She says her disability helped her realise that her perceptions about people living with disabilities were misplaced. 

“My worry was that I was going be a burden to other people,” she says. “But I came to the point where I accepted that my disability shouldn’t stand in my way of having a normal life.”