The Alex Schoolboy Who Couldn’t Walk… Now Feels He Can Fly

It all started at the beginning of the year. Pamela Ben Kantor – a teacher known as Mrs Kantor to her Grade 4s – was blessed to have 37 learners in her class at Summerwood Primary in South Africa.

Summerwood is one of those “wonderful government schools”, she says, where the majority of learners are from Alex (Alexandra Township in Gauteng) and the teachers always put their students first… knowing that each child is unique and beautiful in their own way.

On one particular day, an ordinary day, something happened that would change the life of a child forever. For days Mrs Kantor had witnessed a little boy struggling to walk… but persevering. He never gave up, even up three flights of stairs each day. A true trooper. Tired. Pain in his eyes. But he kept on going.

Mrs Kantor never knew what the problem really was, and she didn’t want to ask questions just in case… But she knew, in her heart, there was a problem. He sat on the sidelines, his eyes glistening, wanting to take part but unable.

And then, on this one particular day, the truth was revealed when she was called to the office. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw… the nine-year-old boy was curled up in a foetal position. He looked up at her… and she could see he was hurting.

This young boy – Malwande – the strong little boy that she had grown to love, was lying helplessly. She now saw his reality. He had no leg.

She tried to control her tears but it was difficult. Lying next to him was a broken wooden leg being held together with cellotape. She could see the wooden leg was outdated and he needed a new one…

Every day of that week, the staff and principal Mr Ramcharan tried to fix it. But it kept falling off.

The embarrassment Malwande felt was palpable. His teacher would have loved to get him a new leg, but ‘how’ was a question she kept asking herself. She expressed her thoughts on facebook – writing about how brave this little boy was, and how important inclusion is in our schools. She never asked for anything.

Malwande was born with his foot facing the wrong way, and subsequently had to have his leg amputated – just below the knee – when he was two years old.

No sooner had she posted her message than “miracles” started happening. People commented, encouraged, connected dots… and incoming angels’ Braam Shevel called, telling her to get hold of Roger Wolfson… a prosthetist prepared to help make Malwande a new leg.

“There was such excitement,” says Mrs Kantor. “I spoke to the principal and asked if we could help this little boy… and he said yes.”

They then spoke to Malwande’s parents who were also so excited. “They couldn’t believe it. They were ecstatic. Roger Wolfson is a prosthetic specialist who was prepared to make Malwande’s dreams come true. He took it on as a charity case and for that everyone is truly grateful.”

A generous foundation – which has chosen to remain anonymous – paid for some of the funding for the new leg.

“Today Malwande is a reborn little boy,” says his teacher. “He is able to participate in everything without pain. He is not only able to walk… but he is able to fly.”

#ThankYouRogerWolfson! #ThankYouMrsKantor #YouCanFlyMalwandeFly