Christo Joubert. (Photo: Provided)
You cannot tell the 64-year-old Christo Joubert anything about perseverance and the willpower to remain physically and mentally strong.
Christo, a diabetic, went through deep waters when a seemingly innocent accident last year resulted in his right leg having to be amputated below the knee.
Where he now works daily for bread at a guest house in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, in his wheelchair or struggling on one leg, he knows that giving up is not an option.
“A person sits with this thing that he wants; he can do so much more if he only has a prosthetic leg… if he can only walk,” says Leonie Marais, a friend of Thabazimbi who is now involved with the Jouberts, to Maroela Media.
She also obtained a wheelchair for Christo on Zeerust with the help of her daughter.
However, Christo’s perseverance knows no bounds and he continues to exercise his healthy leg and manage his diabetes. He even learned how to drive with just one leg.
“However, he still needs a prosthetic leg to restore his mobility, independence and dignity,” she says.
The injury – and the move without compensation
Christo, formerly a keen farm manager outside Potchefstroom in the North West, injured his foot last year when he was patrolling the farm for cattle thieves on a rainy evening and got their vehicle stuck in the mud.
While Christo was pushing the vehicle, something stuck in his foot. The wound was small at first, and Yvonne treated it at home.
However, the foot began to swell and they followed an old home remedy by soaking it in warm water with Epsom salt to clean the wound. When he took the foot out of the water, the skin began to peel off. The small wound grew bigger, and after that Christo’s condition quickly deteriorated.
Yvonne and Christo Joubert. (Photo: Provided)
He went to a doctor who prescribed antibiotics, but the infection worsened. The doctor confirmed that he had developed gangrene and that his foot had to be amputated.
Christo and Yvonne do not have a medical fund, and he was admitted to a state hospital in Klerksdorp, where his foot was amputated just above the ankle. He was later transferred to a state hospital in Potchefstroom, because apparently the hospital in Klerksdorp “could not do anything more for him”.
It was decided to amputate the leg even further, to just below the knee.
By that time, Christo and Yvonne were emotionally broken, and the trauma that Christo experienced was debilitating. He felt hopeless and overwhelmed with worry about how he would take care of himself and his wife in the future.
Christo in the hospital. (Photo: Provided)
He felt so defeated that Christo considered taking his own life. A doctor referred him and his wife to a psychologist, and he was discharged from the hospital after three weeks.
Christo’s employer at that time contacted him with the amputation, while he was in the hospital – I believe not to hear how his health is going, but rather to ask if he could move out of the house he lives in soon, as he had already hired someone to replace Christo.
Christo explained that he was just waiting for his salary so that he could move out, after which he was apparently informed by the employer that he would not receive his salary, because he did not work due to the injury.
Devastated, Christo and Yvonne were forced to sell their furniture to pay for the move and ended up living with their son in Thabazimbi.
Long road ahead
Christo works in his wheelchair or on one leg. (Photo: Provided)
With the support of his son, Christo jr., and wife, Yvonne, Christo finally gathered the courage to send out his CV for possible job opportunities. In his job applications, he is honest about having only one leg and no prosthesis.
It yielded nothing, and Christo was on the verge of losing heart. He has a great passion for the farming industry and has worked on farms all his life.
A compassionate woman near Northam, 50 km from Thabazimbi, heard of Christo and offered him and Yvonne work at her guest house, which has a small restaurant.
Christo manages the male staff, while Yvonne helps manage the restaurant and also keeps an eye on the female staff. In return, they have a roof over their head and a small but precious salary. Mobile phone signal and internet at the guest house is poor, and communication with the outside world is not easy every day.
Yvonne contacts Leonie via WhatsApp when she can. She tells in a recent voice message excited with gratitude that their current employer recently gave them a raise “because they are so hard-working”.
Christo has received several quotations for prostheses, but so far he has not been able to raise enough money for a leg.
Christo Joubert in his wheelchair at the lodge where he works. (Photo: Provided)
“They are not people who just sit back. They do their part and earn just enough monthly to scrape by; there is no money to save for prosthesis or medical aid,” says Leonie.
Hannes van Rensburg, a trauma counselor in Polokwane, tells Maroela Media that he immediately jumped in to help when he heard about Christo’s situation.
“What touched me so much about Christo is that he doesn’t just lie down. He still wants to live, and he still wants to farm. He’s doing well, but of course things sometimes go up and down. I talk to him and Yvonne at least once a week and we pray for him continuously. Our church congregation has also interceded for him, and he’s getting stronger by the day.
“The fact that he got a job encourages him even more not to feel sorry for himself. He really is someone who wants to work and take care of his wife.
“I realize that he sometimes feels extremely powerless, and you feel powerless when you feel you can’t do anything for him. It is important for me to create hope for Christo and remind him again and again that behind the clouds the sun shines.”