A mysterious skin disease is threatening to destroy the life of a once-handsome young man. Caswell Hlongwane (27) of Valdezia outside Louis Trichardt suffers from a rare skin disease which has left doctors in the dark, without a remedy to cure it. He has developed terrible and smelly pimples that have led him to be ostracized by his immediate community.

Hlongwane’s problems started in 2006 while he was working in Honeydew in Gauteng. What looked like a small pimple on one of his legs spread and, within a short space of time, his whole body was covered with smelly blisters.

Hlongwane’s legs are so painful that he now relies on walking sticks to move about. His problems do not end there, as he is now unemployed and cannot access better medical care. “I am hopeless, with no one to help me. Both my parents are not working and can hardly support themselves,” he says. He says he feels the world has turned against him as nothing seems to go well with him. “I see no future for myself and this gives me much stress as I see other people going about their business without any problems. Life can sometimes be cruel. All I need now is good health, and the rest will follow,” he says.

The unemployed Hlongwane has been in and out of different hospitals and he has unsuccessfully knocked on the doors of many doctors at the Elim, Polokwane and Dr George Mkhari hospitals. According to him, they could not find out what was wrong with him and treat his ailments successfully. He told Mirror that the pimples are giving him sleepless nights be-cause of the constant pain.

His sister, Tsakane, says the condition of her brother is a source of great concern to the family. “We have tried all forms of healing, but all in vain and his con-dition keeps deteriorating by the day. We do not even know what to do next,” she says. “To complicate matters, no one in the family is working and we are just hoping for a Good Samaritan to help us out of this predicament,” says Tsakane. According to her, another worrying factor is people who stare at her brother, with some gossiping about his illness. “All the bad things people say about my brother are just like adding salt to a wound; it adds more pain to us,” she said. Tsakane said the family would appreciate any assist¬ance that would lead to her brother’s recovery. “We have nothing here at home and his sick-ness is just worsening our situation,” she said.

Caswell’s father, Stephen Hlongwane, told Mirror that his son’s strong body is deteriorating fast because of the unknown disease. “Caswell is my firstborn son and I was expecting him to work for our poor family. I sometimes have to wash him as he is help-less,” he said.

Hlongwane is also worried by people’s gossiping about his son’s condition, which is contributing to the pressure on the family.

Casswell’s former teacher, Joseph Maswanganyi, said the mysterious disease baffled the community. “He was a very bright student who could have gone very far,” he said. Maswanganyi made a plea to the community to please help the ailing Caswell.

Meanwhile, Caswell’s sister has confirmed that Caswell was hospitalized once again at Elim last week where they are trying to help him. She is appeal-ing to all kind-hearted South Africans to assist them in their time of need. “We are in grave need and we will wel-come any form of help that could come our way,” she said.

Those willing to help can phone his sister Tsakane at 073 222 9705 or Joseph Mas-wanganyi at 073 0185 636.