Surgeons have successfully removed a massive and disfiguring keloid growth from the neck of a Limpopo man who has been living with the pain and discomfort for nearly a decade, reports Drum.
Petros Malepe (43), from Ga-Manoke Village outside Burgersfort, said it had started developing in 1995, and over the years, had increased in size, weighing, by the time it was removed, 3.58kg.
The keloid was removed by a plastic surgery team at Mankweng Academic Hospital earlier this month, with the intervention of the Limpopo Department of Health.
Health MEC Diketso Mashego described Malepe as a long-time patient of the department, “who had been brought back into the healthcare system through the dedication of the surgical team”.
Popular Tzaneen surgeon Dr Ephraim Kgoete had taken to social media with a BackaBuddy campaign to cover the cost of the surgery, hospitalisation, radiotherapy and ongoing emotional support for the patient.
He aimed to raise R70 000 and with the help of 26 donors, managed to raise R26 000.
Malepe’s plight also caught the attention of the Breaking New Grounds Foundation and Khayalami Health Foundation, who joined forces to support him and cover his expenses.
He said the surgery had given him a new lease on life, and that the keloid had robbed him of much of his life.
“I couldn’t walk long distances or look for a job to earn a living, and was surviving on my mother’s pension grant,” he said.