Philip Moyo, the man who spent 60 years in South Africa without communicating with his relatives back home, has finally been discharged from Mpilo Central Hospital and taken to Entembeni Old People’s Home in Bulawayo’s Luveve suburb, reported the Chronicle.
Moyo reportedly returned to Zimbabwe late last year and was picked up by an ambulance crew in Bulawayo’s Mpopoma suburb and taken to Mpilo Central Hospital where he was admitted from 26 December last year until Tuesday this week.
Upon admission, doctors noted with concern that Moyo suffered from severe malnutrition and arthritis.
Moyo, originally from Nemane village in Tsholotsho District, is yet to find his relatives who are willing to take him in after he was discharged from hospital.
A woman in her sixties claiming to be his daughter once visited him in hospital, promising to come back, but she never resurfaced.
Civic leaders from his home area also visited him and tried to help him connect with his family, but nothing materialised.
Moyo said he had a family in South Africa including four children who did not want to be part of his life anymore.
Mpilo Central Hospital public relations officer, Matron Norma Mabhena confirmed that Moyo was taken to Entembeni Old People’s Home after hospital authorities failed to locate his relatives. She said:
We are happy that our patient recovered and has been finally moved to Entembeni Old People’s Home where he will stay since no one from his family has come forward. He spent more than a month at our hospital.
He had recovered compared to the day when he first came here. Mr Moyo was all smiles when he left on Tuesday and he could stand upright and walk by himself, a development which makes us appreciate the great work done by our staff.
This has been a journey, but we are happy that finally, he has found people who are capable of taking care of him.
Mabhena urged members of the public to desist from abandoning families for whatever reason, adding “these people are all that we have.”
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