Taking a beloved son to a hospital stems from a desperate need for him to be healed. However, for the Nefuri family of Tshakhuma, the opposite was the case, as they had to look for his body in the surrounding bushes of the hospital.

It was on Sunday that the happy family decided to go and visit their son, Lufuno, that they were met with the sad news. As usual, the family took some provisions for their loved son to the hospital. Unbeknown to them, their loved one was no more.

The family from Tshakhuma-Lukau is still shell shocked, following the death of their son.

Lufuno Nefuri (18) disappeared from his hospital ward at Tshilidzini on Sunday (October 25) and was later found dead in the bushes in the hospital yard. This has left the distraught family confused as they do not know what had actually happened to their son. “We cannot let the matter lie; we need answers as to what happened to our son,” said Mr Dalton Nefuri, a family member.

Nefuri said they went to the hospital on Sunday to check on their son. He said that, on arrival, they found nurses who were busy attending to another patient. “We asked to be let in and we were allowed in, but we were shocked to find that it was not our son,” he said.

Family members who went there were shocked to find somebody being booked into a bed that had been used by Lufuno. “We enquired about the whereabouts of our son, but we were told that he might have gone out as he used to. As to why his bed was being allocated to somebody else, we were told that the man who was to occupy it needed oxygen and that it was the only bed available with oxygen,” he said.

He said they looked everywhere and Lufuno was nowhere to be found. “It was only when they saw that the matter was serious that they started assisting us in the search, but all our efforts were in vain as he could not be located,” he said. He added that he wanted to call the police, but was persuaded not to do so as the person who was supposed to take a statement was not there.

He said they searched the whole day until it was five in the afternoon when he called the father of the dead boy. He said the father arrived at the same time as the man who was supposed to write a statement.

They headed for the police station together, but they stopped at the gate and an instruction was given to the guards at the gate to look all over the hospital yard. On arrival at the police station, they received a call that the boy had been found. He was located at the far end of the hospital in some shrubs.

The deeply sad family now wants answers as to what had happened to their son.

Tshinakaho Mavunga, the deceased’s aunt, said she dreaded to think what would have happened if they had not gone to the hospital that day. “What would have happened to his body? We would have found it decomposing. These people seem not to care for the patients. We brought our son here to heal, trusting that he would be safe. What happened here leaves much to be desired,” she said.

During Mirror’s visit to the family, there was a lot of activity, with people preparing for the funeral scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Lufuno was a pupil at Fulufhelo Special School in Thohoyandou and was admitted to the hospital on 22 October.

This is not the first time the hospital has experienced this type of death. Last year, a patient, Ms Elisa Thonga (65) from Maungani village, went missing, only to be found dead in the hospital grounds.

Health department spokesperson Mr Selby Makgoto said they had ordered for a comprehensive report about the incident. He said they would launch an investigation only after reading the report. “It is sad that patients have to die while in our care and we promise to do all in our power remedy the situation,” he said.

Limpopo police spokesperson in Vhembe Capt Mashudu Malelo confirmed the incident. He said they had opened an inquest docket.