For Margaret Gabosekwe Magaga from Kuruman, life took an unexpected turn when she lost her right arm after a vehicle accident on New Year’s Day 2022.
“It was really sudden and unexpected. My life was tearing apart,” says nursing student Magaga of this accident, in which her left hip was also broken.
She was hospitalised for the whole of January and February, followed by a rehabilitation period.
“But I am positive – I have always been a positive person,” she says.
As a person who used to be right-handed, she had to teach herself to use her left arm and left hand for everything she previously did with her right arm and right hand.
Anew, she learnt how to write, bath, do household chores and more. She became stronger and more confident.
“It is not easy, but by the grace of God to whom I have prayed to help me to stand up, I am coping,” she says.
She has been supported, amongst others, by her family, her son and her preceptor in the Clinical Department at the Nursing College.
Since Magaga could remember, she wanted to be a nurse. She started with auxiliary nursing training, and a few years ago commenced with a four-year nursing diploma in Nursing and Midwifery, with the firm aim to complete the course.
Although she could not write her final examinations earlier in the year, Magaga returned to college in June to finish what she had started. She was, however, demoted from her fourth-year group to the third-year group due to her sick-leave absence of four months.
Although disappointed, she is determined to complete her diploma in nursing.
“Nursing is what I want to do; caring for people who are sick, providing comfort, supporting those in need and making a difference in people’s lives. That is my passion,” she says.
Although two hands are needed for many nursing tasks, Magaga knows by now and from experience, that there are tasks that she can do – “the same thing I used to do, just differently”.
Her heart’s desire is to be granted the opportunity to complete her final nursing examination and final year, and to obtain the qualification she has worked for and dreamt of for so long.
After receiving the qualification, her aim is to find a path in the nursing field where she can keep on making a difference and render a much-needed service.
“My current path is not easy, but I am trying my best. My positivity gives me strength every day,” Magaga says, giving her warm smile.
