Nsizwa is a little burned boy in grade 5 at the Bumbisizwe School for physically disabled children in Madadeni, Newcastle, KwaZulu Natal.
He is doing quite well academically and functions well in a protective school environment, but he is still aware of his physical appearance and would like to look more "normal".
He is scarred mainly on his face, upper body and arms.
Nsizwa lost the cartilage on his right ear and nose and he has extensive tissue damage all over his face, resulting in prominent lips, poor eye closure, loss of eyebrow and poor facial expression. His eyes are small, especially the right one, they are constantly watering and red. He doesn’t have hair on the right side of his head.
The upper body has contracted scar tissue on both right and left pectoral areas which restricts movement.
Nsizwa lost his right hand at wrist level. He has a flexion skin contracture of his elbow joint, restricting elbow extension to 40degrees.
Nsizwa doesn’t have a index finger on his left hand, has a very short thumb with only an MP joint that was surgically reattached. The web space is small, his 4th and 5th fingers only have a small flexion impairment, but the 3rd finger has limited MP and PIP flexion. It also has slight valgus deformity on the distal phalangy. The dorsal surface of his hand has scars of a skin transplant. He doesn’t have full wrist flexion. Nsizwa also has severe left elbow flexion skin contractures, which limits elbow extension to 75 degrees.
Taking these losses and limitations into consideration, Nsizwa is quite skillful with his left hand. Activities are however limited, because he only has one deformed hand and one stump for support.
Children of Fire intends to seek surgical and occupational therapy solutions for Nsizwa.