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Cephas Shava
07 March 2017, MWENEZI – A 27-year-old Mwenezi man, who was battling to recover from a severe spinal injury sustained in a freak accident while offloading cement from a truck, died on Saturday last week following months of illness.
Phineas Chauke, who is survived by his wife and three children, was laid to rest at his rural home in Mukahamari village, chief Neshuro.
Chauke sustained spinal injuries after the door of the truck’s side trailer hit him below the chest while doing a piece job of offloading cement at Chingwanga hardware at Neshuro growth point some months ago.
While trying to open the truck load, Chauke was hit by the side door of the truck whose load was reportedly made of more than 600 bags of cement. He fell and some bags of cement fell on top of him.
Chauke was initially taken to Neshuro Hospital and then transferred to Masvingo General Hospital from where he was again referred to United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and later on to Parerenyatwa Hospital where he underwent surgery and discharged.
However, his illness worsened and he developed deep sores on his backside and legs. This prompted family members to take him back to Neshuro where he was discharged for home-based care a fortnight ago but remain stuck at the hospital due to lack of funds. By the time of his death, Chauke was not able to walk or bend.local
