Zimpapers Logo

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke and Thupeyo Muleya 

In another milestone in Zimbabwe’s health sector, local surgeons recently performed life-changing surgery to remove a tumour from the mouth of Mr Laston Kwinika (64) from Beitbridge that had been growing over the past 17 years.

His story first gained attention when The Herald featured his plight, highlighting his struggles and the impact the tumour had on his daily life. 

This culminated in a host of well-wishers coming forth with funds to assist with his surgery.

Last week, a team of local surgeons performed the surgery on Mr Kwinika and he will soon get back to normalcy.

Although he still has difficulties in speaking, Mr Kwinika expressed his gratitude to all those who had made his operation a success.

“Without your support, I would never have had this operation. I am grateful to everyone who assisted,” he said.

His wife, Mrs Milliet Ndou, said she had almost lost hope after selling all her livestock including donkeys to raise money for the medical bills.

Mr Kwinika’s problem started as a small pimple on his gums in 2007 which continued to grow until it had become a huge mass occupying the better part of his mouth. The family had visited numerous hospitals in Zimbabwe and South Africa but got no joy as no doctor could assist with his condition. 

When they were referred to Parirenyatwa Hospital, they could not raise the money that was needed for the surgery.

Visiting The Herald office in Beitbridge and the community radio station was for Mrs Kwinika, a last attempt at affording her husband a semblance of a better life.

“I am very grateful to everyone who heard my plea and came forward to assist us. I would never have managed to do this on my own but it became possible because of those who were moved by my husband’s plight and gave us their money and their prayers. 

“I would also like to thank all the doctors who operated on my husband. I was not sure that they would be able to remove that big tumour but when I saw him after the surgery, he was a different man. Above all, I thank God for making all this possible,” she said.

The mass removed from Mr Kwinika was taken to Lancet laboratories for testing to determine what it was.

The surgical team that conducted the surgery was led by two specialist oral and maxillofacial surgeons, Professor Midion Chidzonga and Mr Wayne Manana, and also included doctors, anaesthetists and the nursing staff.

Speaking on behalf of the team, Dr Tapiwa Nyakudya, a specialist trainee in oral and maxillofacial surgery, said the surgery had not been easy as the mass had destroyed most of his jaw.

“Our patient came in with a huge lower jaw mass which was suspected to be what we call an ameloblastoma. This is a slow-growing tumour that grows painlessly over time, but then it invades the local tissue which is the tissue that it is related to. So it had destroyed much or most of his jaw, especially the teeth-bearing area. So we went for surgery to reserve that part of the jaw that had been affected by this tumour which unfortunately included all the part that had his lower teeth,” said Dr Nyakudya.

After the surgery, Mr Kwinika was briefly admitted to the High Dependency Unit, from where he was discharged on Monday to the general wards.

 “We had to use a temporary plate to cover the defect that was left after we removed the tumour. Our hope is that we will go back to the theatre in six months’ time. Our surgical team plans to use a bone graft; they are planning on taking part of the bones in his legs so that we can fashion a mandible lower jaw so that he can be rehabilitated in terms of oral function. We can even make artificial teeth but they have to be made on something so we are planning on taking him back for the fibrous bone graft,” he added.

Zimbabwe has witnessed a significant number of cases of people with such growths and according to Dr Nyakudya, most of these patients always came late resulting in the loss of a huge part of their jaws thus affecting functions like eating and speaking.

While Mr Kwinika will be able to come back for a follow-up surgery to restore his jaw, many other patients with the same condition often go unattended due to religious, cultural and financial reasons, making it difficult to then rehabilitate normal function. 

“Our plea and prayer as doctors especially in regards to these masses is that the moment you see something abnormal happening to you anywhere on your body it is very important to seek treatment as early as possible, when it is cheap and simple to operate and the defect is usually easy to correct, rather than coming maybe after 10 or 20 years later. 

“The operation then becomes complex, the defect that results from such an operation becomes very huge and the cost of then trying to reconstruct it becomes expensive,” Dr Nyakudya said.

After Mr Kwinika’s story was published by The Herald and local community radio station Lotsha FM, radio personality and philanthropist Miss Patience Moyo launched a community mobilisation drive to raise the funds required for his travel and expenses.

Ms Moyo said the response by the community was overwhelming and that everyone in the Beitbridge community was excited about the successful surgery.

“After realising Mr Kwinika’s predicament, with the help of others, we mobilised for the initial US$800 from community members in Beitbridge and those in the diaspora. People donated amounts ranging from R100 up to US$100 until we raised enough to transport him to Harare for surgery. We continued mobilising even afterward to cover other expenses that arose. I want to thank The Herald reporter, Mr Thupeyo Muleya for breaking this story and an interest by his employer (The Herald) to facilitate the surgery with the help of the team of doctors at Parirenyatwa,” she said.

To complement the efforts of the Beitbridge community, The Herald also launched a similar mobilisation drive which saw Ms Barbara Coetzee from South Africa donate US$300 towards the metal plates installed in Mr Kwinika’s jaw. 

Other donors, who preferred to remain anonymous also contributed towards the purchase of the plates and other sundries required for the surgery.

Zimpapers Public Relations and Communications Manager Mrs Pauline Matanda said the move to assist Mr Kwinika was embedded in the company’s belief in the power of community and supporting those in need. 

“When we heard about Mr Kwinika’s struggle with cancer, we knew we had to do our part. In line with SDG 17 to strengthen partnerships in achieving good health and well-being, we humbly took on this role in mobilising funds that enabled him to travel to Harare for his surgery. 

“We are incredibly thankful to God for a successful operation, to the doctors, and service providers, and to the generous well-wishers who came forward to help. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Kwinika during his recovery. We are optimistic for a full restoration of his health,” she said