A few weeks ago, our missions lecturer went down to South Africa for a missions conference and took one of our top graduates, Qondile Khumalo (known as "Q"), with him. On their way back around 10pm, they had a car accident 30 minutes outside of Bulawayo. A big commuter van had crossed over the line into their lane so they went onto the shoulder to avoid a head on collision. Unfortunately, there was a barrier that damaged the passenger’s side of the car . Both of Qondile’s legs were broken and his pelvis was fractured. Qondile has been in the government hospital for over 3 weeks now, already having had several surgeries. He also has a pretty bad cut under his scrodum that goes up to his anus. He lost a lot of blood and had to have a blood transfusion.
Today I went to the government hospital to visit Q. Just going down his ward made me realize that I never want to be in a government hospital here! There were about 40 beds lining both sides of the ward, Q being at the end. He looked weak and downcast. Both of his legs are in plaster casts. He can't move due to his fractured pelvis so can only be elevated 3/4 way up. He has bed sores from laying in the same position for over 3 weeks. Q had to have a bag inserted in his colon to collect his feces so that the cut, which had become infected, can heal. However, the bag has upset his system and he has been throwing up recently. I can only imagine what he must be thinking and feeling, probably wondering if he'll ever walk again.
When talking with Q, I asked him if there was anything specific that I could be praying for. He misunderstood me and said, "When my system comes right, I'd love some sprite!" I smiled and said, "I'll see what I can do." I purchased some cans of 7up in town and took them to him today.
Driving at night here is just never a good idea. City driving is relatively fine, but distance driving is dangerous as the roads have no lighting making it very hard to see, there could be cows or large animals in the road, there could be drunk or sleeping drivers, there could even be people walking along the sides of the road that are hard to see. Mat and I made it a rule when we first arrived to never drive on Zimbabwe roads at night as it is just too dangerous. This accident is just another reason why we don't drive at night.