https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/watch-boy-from-belhar-who-came-back-from-the-dead-to-inspire-cape-flats-35126463

Kalib Missoe is an inspiration to anyone growing up on the Cape Flats that you should never give up, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in. Because miracles do happen.


An injury on a rugby field in April 2015 led to him being in a coma for seven days. The doctors at the Netcare Kuils River Hospital were ready to switch off the life support system after declaring him brain dead.


Then, against all odds, he woke up and eventually returned to school in November that year. Both Kalib and his mother Esmeralda, who has raised him by herself, attribute his recovery to their religion and faith in God.



"Kalib was a completely different person after the incident. Before he used to rush around, but he has become very calm and focused," said Esmeralda, who also has an 18-month-old boy and lives in Belhar.



A sales manager in the banking industry, Esmeralda faced a lot of financial challenges due to Kalib's hospitalisation and journey to recovery but both of them have a never-say-die attitude - literally.


The 20-year-old Kalib intends to write a book on his life, titled Grace on the Seventh Day.


Fast-forward to 2019 and the Bellville Technical High School pupil is busy writing his matric exams and has been given the opportunity – if he manages to raise enough funds – to study sports management at one of the top five Chinese universities next year.


He also gives motivational talks at schools and churches; performs as a singer; qualified in July as a Western Province schools rugby referee; is heavily involved in a dominoes club in Belhar; and heads a fundraising initiative for the Belhar Night Market non-profit organisation.

That’s not all. At the end of July, Kalib, who is also a community and youth activist, helped organise a march, which involved four schools, to the Belhar police station after the gang-related deaths of three pupils.

They handed over a memorandum with a list of demands to bring a stop to the violence against women and schoolchildren in Belhar.

“I know that my accident happened for a reason because God wanted me to tell people he is a living God. I was very religious before the accident and I believe my religion pulled me through.


“I didn’t play rugby again but I started coaching at the school. In July I was appointed a Western Province Rugby schools referee.


“I also started playing under-19 golf at school and I joined a dominoes club in Belhar.”


Recalling what led to him tearing a leg vein, having a swollen brain and enduring three strokes, Kalib said: “I was 16 years old at the time and playing on the wing in a trial match.



"I tackled a player, who fell on top of me and then other players landed on me as well as I hit my head on the ground. I was kept in hospital for a day, but I went to school the next morning because I had a mathematics test to write.


“The next morning before school I didn’t play touch rugby with the other guys because I didn’t feel too well. My one leg was basically lame. Then my left eye started to blur. That’s when I started to scream and said I can’t see. I then fainted in the quad.


"I was in a coma for seven days. On the seventh day all the doctors came and told my mother there is nothing they can basically do and that they need to switch off the machines. I was declared brain dead and that’s when the miracle happened when I woke up in a cold room.


“My recovery process took from May to October. I went back to school in November. I went for a check-up in November and that’s when they saw that my brain was back to working 99% and I was taken off all medication.”


Aside from his faith, the main message that Kalib gets across in his motivational speeches is that while “there will be obstacles in life, you must never give up”.


He also believes it’s essential that you “respect your your parents and your teachers, who open doors for us”.


His favourite quote is by US politician Solomon Ortiz: “Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.”


He is looking forward to his Chinese challenge and expects to spend five years in the country.


“I will then be coming back to South Africa where I will try to make a change to our country. I believe much can be achieved with a positive mindset and faith in God.”