Man struggles to cope after freak accident
- Lost his father while still bed-ridden in hospital - Worries that his employer blames him for accident
Dimpho Motsumi, a 27-year-old former petrol attendant at C to C Mahalapye (Trading as Caltex) filling station was left incapacitated after sustaining third degree burns whilst at work last year August.
On that fateful day, Motsumi attended to a customer who wanted petrol in a 30-litre jerry can at the back of his van. The customer had two cans at the back of the van, one was a plastic bottle and was already filled with petrol, the other was a jerry can that he was instructed to fill.
After pouring petrol in the jerry can, he turned to put back the petrol pipe and that is when he noticed something odd - a small fire had started on top of the jerry can that he had just filled up.
Motsumi stayed calm and decided to move the jerry can to avoid a scenario where the other petrol-filled can would catch fire. As he picked up the can, the lid exploded but he still managed to pick it up and removed it from the back of the van.
The can tipped over and petrol spilled on his right arm and upper body, triggering a scary sight where he caught fire.
Since, according to him, they were never taught how to use a fire extinguisher, Motsumi’s colleagues ran away fearing for their lives. In his panic and shock, he took to rolling over on the floor with the hope of putting off the fire, but the flames raged on, forcing him to rip his clothes off but still could not take control of the fire.
Motsumi became a spectacle as people in neighbouring restaurants came out, while others parked their cars just to watch without helping.
At that moment, he lost all hope that he was ever going to survive the fire until a street vendor came to his rescue and covered him with a blanket which stopped the fire.
He was later admitted at Mahalapye Hospital, then transferred to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in Francistown, then Bokamoso Private Hospital and back to Mahalapye Hospital.
Since September 2021 up until May 2022, he was not getting any better. Motsumi was then referred back to Bokamoso where he underwent a skin grafting operation because his arm was having complications healing.
It has been over a month since Motsumi underwent the skin grafting operation and now he is faced with a huge challenge. His injuries require more protein foods which he cannot afford. Moreover, life has become unbearable as he deals with all this on his own.
Motsumi told The Midweek Sun that as if what he was going through was not enough, he lost his father whilst he was bedridden in hospital, and does not even know where he was buried.
His daily challenges include cooking, and doing other household chores. He gets through days by making a simple soup, porridge or simple foods to at least have something in his stomach.
His inability to cook and the fact that he lives alone makes it hard for him to take medication thereby prolonging the healing process.
Motsumi went back to his employer and asked for additional food as his salary is not sufficient to help sustain him anymore. However, all hell broke loose as the company changed tact and started blaming him for the accident.
He says that head office assumes he is the one at fault yet he maintain he was not. Motsumi is hurt because he was always serving customers with love and now when he seeks extra help from his employer, it becomes a big issue.
Motsumi is heartbroken and vows that he has not done anything wrong to cause the accident. He even tried by all means to ensure that no one else burns by removing the jerry can from the car.
“The healing process of the operation is slow because I have no food, the salary I receive has now become smaller as my condition requires more provisions,” Motsumi says, noting that this is what he told nurses when they observed that his healing process from the operation is slow.
Motsumi has given up and this situation has left him with a lot of anger. He has lost his life partner and is struggling. Motsumi always won competitions in the company and feels he was neglected when he most needed support.
C to C spokesperson, Nario Kentse explained that the company is working with the Labour Department and are awaiting a final report from Motsumi’s doctors once his treatment is complete to compile a report for the insurance company regarding compensation.
C to C has refrained from answering further questions relating to the matter, saying they do not want to prejudice Motsumi’s chances of getting compensation.