HomeOld_PostsMungoshi operation successful ...as death rumours rock family

Mungoshi operation successful …as death rumours rock family

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By Farayi Mungoshi

ON April 10 around 2.21pm, I got a call from an uncle of mine, Nunurayi Jena, who also happens to be a journalist.
He asked me if everything was all right.
I told him that everything was good and that I was actually on my way to town with my mother.
He went on to ask after my father and that he had received word from his whatsapp group of journalists that Charles Mungoshi (my father) had passed on at 2.10pm.
When I heard this, I laughed because we’d just left father at home and there was no truth to this message.
I told him father was okay.
Dr Charles Mungoshi, author of Branching Streams Flow in the Dark and Waiting for the Rain, among many other publications, has been unwell since 2010 when he suffered what doctors termed a mild stroke, though they could not fully confirm it as a stroke.
In no time after sekuru Nunu had called to inquire, phone calls started raining in from every direction, some from Newsday, Daily News whileothers came from The Herald, just to name a few.
My mother, Jesesi Mungoshi and my young brother Charles Jr Mungoshi, who also happens to be an author and motivational speaker, also received phone calls from journalists.
And what started off as something to laugh off and brush aside soon became something of concern and pretty much annoying.
It reflected the kind of unethical lifestyle we are now living.
It seemed as though social media ‘reporters’ were in a rush for the scoop without even verifying if indeed Charles Mungoshi had passed on.
People on social media get to write and spread untrue and unverified rumours whereas conventional newspapers will not normally write and print something that is not confirmed.
By now people should know who to listen to or what to read.
Social media can destroy and disrupt lives in the most negative way hence people must not seek to make a name for themselves by peddling rumours.
There is need for all would-be ‘journalists’ to act responsibly and in as humane a way as possible because what they write impacts lives.
Bad news has the potential to cause death, health problems or stress.
Allow me to take an example from a book most Zimbabweans prefer to read compared to any other reading material — the Bible — when Prophet Eli received news that his two sons Hophni and Phineas had been killed in battle and that the Ark of the Lord had been captured by the Philistines, he fell backwards, broke his neck and died.
Upon hearing this news, Eli’s daughter-in-law, who was heavily pregnant, immediately went into labour and died during childbirth.
The messenger who had brought the message was not affected as much as the family he brought the news to.
Now suppose the messenger had lied about the news he’d brought to Eli, like the social media lied about Dr Mungoshi’s supposed death, would the result have been any different?
Eli would have still died.
The reporter’s duty is to make sure that whatever he/she is reporting is true more than it is about making headlines.
When my aunt, tete Mabel Kadungure, sister to my father, heard the news of her brother’s supposed passing on, she immediately felt back pains such that she could not stand anymore.
Two days later, she was still to recover from the news despite learning that it was all lies.
My 94-year-old grandmother was not even told the news for fear of the damage it could do to her, health-wise.
Indeed, Dr Mungoshi hasn’t been well since 2010 but he has undergone a correctional operation to replace an underperforming shunt that had been inserted previously.
The operation which was performed last week was a success. He is now able to converse with others and looks headed to return to his book reading and writing as soon as possible.
The operation which was supposed to be performed after the holidays was brought forward and kept a secret to avoid too many visits because of the sensitivity of the operation and to allow him a controlled recovery.
Dr Mungoshi was discharged from Avenues Clinic on April 18 and is now home.
He will continue to undergo physiotherapy to allow him full recovery.
A fund-raising campaign was set up by fellow artistes Memory Chirere, Lawrence Hoba and Fungai Chiwangana of Zimbojam to assist in raising money for hospital bills which were way beyond the family’s capabilities.
Kuda Kadungure and Fungi Siggins were instrumental in the raising of funds along with many Zimbabweans across the globe, with the largest amount coming from an anonymous Zimbabwe-based donor.
“Thank you Zimbabwe. Thank you to the fund raisers and above all, thank you God,” Jesesi Mungoshi said of the collective work done by well wishers in the fight to get Dr Mungoshi back on his feet.
Dr Mungoshi’s wife was also digusted by the behaviour of journalists who sought to confirm the supposed death of the author.
“What kind of world are we living in when journalists invade someone’s privacy like that, take photos of someone in such a state, in poor health, without the approval or consent of the responsible members of the family all in the name of making headlines for a newspaper?” she asked.

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