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Chiefs’ Meyiwa has career cut short

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Wiseman Meyiwa

Kaizer Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung has confirmed that youngster Wiseman Meyiwa has been forced to retire from football after sustaining spinal cord damage in an accident last year.

The 19-year-old was in a motorcar accident on 3 November 2018 on the N3 highway near Villiers in the Free State while travelling home to Pietermaritzburg.

Chiefs called a press conference on Thursday where Motaung revealed that the midfielder has been diagnosed as a T6 paraplegic, which means he will no longer be able to use his lower legs and will be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Meyiwa was one of the youngest players ever to represent Amakhosi at senior level, and Motaung expressed sadness about the ending of a promising career.

‘We are very disheartened that Wiseman’s promising career had to come to an end so abruptly when he still had so much to offer.

‘This is the first time that we’ve ever had to deal with this situation in as far as players go, but we are doing our best to ensure that we give Wiseman all the support and care he needs.

‘We are shattered because he is very young, everyone had high hopes of him and his family expected a lot from his football career. Yet, in the same breath we are grateful that his life has been spared.’

Kaizer Chiefs team doctor, Hashendra Ramjee, revealed that the midfielder suffered an unstable fracture of his thoracic vertebrae with spinal cord injury.

‘The thoracic vertebrae fracture was surgically repaired and he was transferred to Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital for further management. Wiseman has a permanent disability with a T6 paraplegia,’ explained the doctor.

‘His treatment is currently being optimised to allow him to manage his disability,’ added  Ramjee.

Meyiwa left his home in KZN at the age of 14 to join the Kaizer Chiefs Youth Development Academy in 2014, and represented South Africa on the international stage at both the U17 and U20 World Cup tournaments in 2015 (Chile) and 2017 (South Korea) respectively.

Motaung added that the club will continue to provide the youngster support in his recovery.
‘The club will endeavour to give Wiseman and his family all the support he needs, including trauma counselling – emotional and psychological. We will also assist with educational support to ensure he is self-sufficient in the future. We will also put proper support systems in place to make sure his home-based care is as comfortable as possible.’

‘We are also working closely with his teammates to ensure that they are able to deal with the shock,’ concluded the Chiefs football manager.

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix