Time to say goodbyeCELEAN JACOBSONMandela pays homage to a boy who became the face of Aids Nkosi Johnson, the little boy who became the world's tragic face of Aids, died worrying about how his "mommy", Gail, would cope without him. The death early on Friday of 12-year-old Nkosi, famous after telling the world about his life with Aids at a global conference on the disease in Durban in July last year, has seen a flood of condolences from leading figures. Yesterday flowers filled the lounge of Nkosi's home in Melville, Johannesburg. There was a large bouquet from Nelson Mandela and his children's foundation and from Kaizer Chiefs, Nkosi's favourite soccer team. Condolences came from as far afield as the Netherlands and the US. But Nkosi's final moments were not those of a hardened activist but of a frightened boy looking death in the face. A tearful Johnson - who fostered Nkosi as a baby 10 years ago - told the Sunday Times of his fear of dying. "He was scared of dying and what it meant. He was very concerned about how I would cope without him. I told him that he would be watching over me." But, while she knew he would die, nothing could have prepared her for what happened at 4.45am in his room on Friday. She thought he had suffered a terrible seizure, and went to his bright blue room ready to give him pain-relieving medication. But when she saw his stiff body and could find only a weak pulse, she realised it was time to say goodbye. "I thought: 'God, maybe this is it.' I tried to close his eyes but they came open again . . . I kissed him and said: 'Go quietly.' I told him that I loved him and how proud I was of him," she recalled. Less than an hour later, Nkosi, weighing less than 10kg, passed away peacefully on International Children's Day. He was in his bed surrounded by his favourite teddy bears. "I'm sad, but his race was run. I am proud of my son. He has done more for Aids in Africa and South Africa than anyone else. But it is his turn to rest now," said Johnson. Nkosi never had a chance to say goodbye himself. The last time he spoke was on December 29 last year, the beginning of the end in his illness. Nkosi, frail but smart in a black suit, stole the hearts of millions when he spoke at the International Aids Conference in Durban last July and pleaded for anti-retroviral drugs to be given to pregnant mothers infected with HIV. His natural mother had died from the disease and, although he was born with HIV, he lived to become South Africa's longest-surviving infected child. Johnson and Nkosi first attracted attention in 1997 when she won the right for him to attend a primary school. This led to a new policy forcing schools to accept infected children. At Melpark Primary School his best friend, Eric Nicholls , mourned Nkosi's passing. "I will feel very lost without him. Even though he was not at school. I felt better just knowing he was there." He remembered how their friendship grew. "In the beginning I wouldn't go near him. Then I got to know more about Aids and that you can't get it from touching people. "Then one day I saw this little person sitting with no one to talk to and I decided to go up to him and introduced myself because I am a person with a soft heart," he said. Nkosi's grandmother Ruth Khumalo praised Johnson during a visit to the house on Friday. "I thank God for what Gail did. I am heartbroken, but he was suffering and would never have survived," she said. "I was hoping that God would one day remember him and I hope he rests in peace," she added. Now Johnson is left with her memories and Nkosi's quiet bedroom with its pills on the bedside table next to a children's book about Nelson Mandela. She says she remembers his lousy jokes and how he fed the cat while she cooked. His funeral will be in Johannesburg on Saturday. Johnson has asked for one of Nkosi's favourite songs to be played. He will be buried to Sarah Brightman's Time To Say Goodbye.
Source: Sunday Times - news - 03 June 2001 |
