Death has once again robbed the area of one of the beloved little angels who has been close to the hearts of Mirror readers for years.

Mirror covered the sad story of the disabled Dembe Tshivhenga of Dopeni for the first time on 30 May 2007. She was six years old at the time. After Mirror’s coverage, Dembe received several gifts from our readers, which included wheelchairs, clothes, toys and groceries. The coverage was also a wake-up call to the Department of Health and Social Development, whose officials visited the family to offer professional medical help to the ill child.

Dembe’s mother, Mavis Tshivhenga, says her daughter suffered from fever early last week. “I thought it was just ordinary flu and I took her to the doctor, who gave her some medication. Her condition got worse after two days and she died at home while we were preparing to take her to the hospital.”

Mavis says she has good and bad memories of her beloved daughter. “When I gave birth to her on 28 August 2001, she was a bright, bubbly and healthy girl whose future looked very bright. When she was three months old, her head started bulging. I took her to Siloam Hospital and she was later transferred to the Polokwane provincial hospital. Doctors said she was suffering from hydrocephalus and they said the fluids in her head needed to be drained.”

She said doctors inserted shunt pipes into her head to drain the fluids, but after the draining, her head did not return to a normal size. “It became disfigured and one could clearly see on the head where the pipes had been inserted. Since then, she lost the use of her limbs and she became frail. She could not even speak or do anything for herself. She was bedridden until her last day on earth.”

She finally thanked God for giving her a wonderful gift in Dembe. “Although she departed so soon, she lived life to the fullest and I will love her forever. God has done his will and ours is to accept.”

Dembe was buried on Saturday during a moving ceremony at Dopeni village in the Nzhelele area. Representing Vhembe District Municipality and the Limpopo Disabled Entrepreneur Network, Cllr Rapson Rambuwani urged parents to follow the example of Dembe’s mother, who did not hide her disabled daughter. “We are saddened by this death because Dembe was part of our big family in the disabled world. We used to come and visit her and assisted in different ways. We have no doubt that her soul will rest in peace.”