A mother's torment. Read and weep

A mother's torment. Read and weep

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By Staff Reporter

BRITISH doctors last Thursday withdrew life support for a Zimbabwean woman who has been in a coma at the Birmingham City Hospital for close to a month, New Zimbabwe.com can reveal.

Lizwane Ndlovu, a 29-year-old mother of two, left Zimbabwe four years ago to start a new life in Britain, where she claimed asylum.

Her asylum application failed. Last December, she was detained in an immigration holding centre for SEVEN months before being released.

But just under a month after her release, she started complaining of chest pains before falling into a coma until her death last Thursday.

Nanzelelani Sebata, a friend, said last night: "All she wanted was to be a good mother, raise her kids and make sure they go to school.

"Although she wasn't allowed to work, like all asylum seekers, she did it for her kids.

"She really had a tough job working long hours as a cleaner at a hospital. She told me that she was working with strong chemicals which I think could have caused her medical woes.

"When she was in detention, they tried to deport her but she broke loose from her escorts and caused a scene at the airport. Her deportation was called off.

"She didn't see a future for herself, or her children in Zimbabwe. She would rather work in very difficult circumstances than go back to Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

"As a friend, she was funny and witty. She always kept us laughing. She has been a very unlucky girl.

"I think the most enduring pain that I will always feel is that the doctors couldn't get a member of her family to sign papers allowing them to turn off the life support system.

"Her sister was refused a visa by the British Embassy in Harare, and the doctors decided that they had had enough. They set the date for turning off the life support. And at 9am on Thursday, my friend ceased to live.

"A day before she died, a friend who visited her said her eyes were open. She appeared to be regaining consciousness in her view. But the doctors had decided her fate.

"It has really been a shock. She was the bread winner in her family. All she wanted was to live in the UK, work hard and help her family."

Ndlovu didn't have any family in the UK, and friends have started an appeal to raise funds to get her body to Zimbabwe. If you wish to donate, call Belinda on 07810376211
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