A 36-YEAR-OLD Banket farm worker, Nyasha Koroka, who was nearly electrocuted by Zesa cables in 2010 is still struggling to get compensation for her left hand which had to be amputated.
REPORT BY VENERANDA LANGA
Koroka, now disabled with only one arm and her eyesight also affected, said although she had approached the power utility seeking $30 000 compensation for her injuries, she had not yet been paid “a single cent”.
According to Koroka, Zesa only paid her hospital bills. She is now demanding compensation for her disabilities.
She is a single mother of three school going children and is no longer able to fend for them.
Narrating her ordeal to NewsDay Koroka said: “I used to work at Chimwemwe Farm in Banket. The accident happened on January 8, 2010 while I was visiting neighbouring Bickleighvale Farm. The main Zesa line had fallen after incessant rains, but Zesa did not take action despite a report having been made. As I was walking I accidentally had contact with the fallen cables and the next thing I found myself in a hospital bed severely burnt.”
She said her left arm had been burnt to the extent that within a week it was rotting. She was transferred from Banket Hospital to Chinhoyi Hospital. She was later transferred to Parirenyatwa hospital where her arm was amputated.
Hospital records dated March 1, 2010 by a Parirenyatwa Hospital doctor Tungamirai Rukutya confirmed Koroka’s burns had been caused by high voltage electrical shock.
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“The above mentioned patient was electrocuted after she handled sagging electric wire when she was crossing the Zesa line in Banket District on January 10, 2010.
“She sustained third degree burns involving the back of the trunk, lateral aspect of the left lower limb and left upper limb. The left upper limb was the entry point and the left hand was gangrenous up to the mid forearm,” reads part of the doctor’s report.
“These burns resulted in the left below elbow amputation of her left hand and forearm. The exit point was the left lateral aspect of the head and there was loss of consciousness.
“Longterm complications are post electrical burns syndrome, which include cataracts, seizures and chronic pain. Left below elbow amputation will result in permanent disability, phantom limb pain.”
Efforts to get a comment from Zesa spokesperson Fullard Gwasira were fruitless as his phone went unanswered.
