‘Who needs a leg?'

When Thabo Dube lost his leg in an accident, his dreams seemed permanently shattered. but creativity kicked in and he began telling his story through the manufacture of leather bags.

- LAUREN DOLD

Thabo’s brand LETZ stands for ‘Live every day till Z’. He tells me it is a personal mantra that has comforted him throughout a long physical and mental journey. It is his reminder to fully embrace each day, right up until the last second. “I was only 17 when I started living alone in Cape Town. My grandparents, who raised me, had both passed away a few months apart. I tried getting jobs here and there, in order to survive,” Thabo explains.

“I was just trying to make ends meet, when one day I woke up in hospital without a leg.” In August 2013 Thabo was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. He was 19 at the time.“ I was in Tygerberg hospital for nine months, alone. I almost lost both legs and I had a skull fracture, which wiped my memory for a very long time. There was a stage when I wasn’t sure I knew my own name.”

Athletically built and with a passion for sport, Thabo struggled with the loss of his right limb. He recalls, “I was 20 when I got out of hospital and I had to survive.

I was jobless, and I was depressed. I attempted suicide twice.” With very few options and bound to a wheelchair, he made his way to a traffic light, but he could not bring himself to beg.

“I used to love sports. I realised I couldn’t play rugby again, and I needed to find something that I loved doing to keep myself motivated. But the first thing I needed to do was embrace my disability. Things changed the moment I did that. I accepted that I am differently abled. I don’t say ‘disabled’ anymore.”