I Just Want To Be Normal

A teen disfigured by a rare condition finally has hope for his future thanks to a doctor who’s willing to help him.

- Zama Chutshela

HE’D love to be a teacher and help children like him rise above their circumstances and achieve their dreams. But this teenager has such over-riding challenges his chances of living a normal life become slimmer with each passing day.

Nduduzo Gumede suffers from a condition so rare doctors haven’t yet been able to help him. The 17-year-old’s face is grossly enlarged by a tumour-like growth over his left eye and his spine is so curved he has developed a hunchback.

“During the day I don’t feel any pain but at night my face becomes sore. I have vision in both eyes but I can’t see out of my left eye because of the excess skin over it,” says Nduduzo, a Grade 5 learner at Ethel Mthiyane Special School in KwaZulu-Natal.

The teenager has sought help from both Western and traditional doctors without any luck, he tells DRUM. His condition is also worrying his gogo, Tikana Gumede (65).

“When he was little I noticed the line between his nose and upper lip was slightly crooked and his left gum looked swollen. At first I thought he was teething but the gum just kept growing,” she says.

Paternal grandmother Tikana has looked after Nduduzo and his twin, Sduduzo, since they were toddlers. “Their mother asked me to become their guardian when they were three years old because she had no family and she had nowhere to stay,” she explains.

A year later, the skin above Nduduzo’s eye started growing – and wouldn’t stop. Tikana also became alarmed when she noticed Nduduzo’s hunchback. “It developed three to five years ago. He didn’t complain about any pain but I noticed he was limping,” she says.

Nduduzo, who walks with an awkward gait, says his friends are supportive of him. “I have many friends at school and in my community. They don’t point fingers at me or laugh at me – they understand.”