WATCH: Fighting back from paralysis, former SA U19 allrounder Nqweni aiming for cricket comeback
South African cricketer Solo Nqweni opens up about his battle with paralysis-inducing Guillain-Barré syndrome, contracting Covid-19 in 2020 and his dreams of playing cricket once again.
Nqweni has been recovering from GBS since July 2019, after developing the syndrome shortly after making a move to play cricket for Aberdeenshire in Scotland.
The 26-year-old allrounder had made the move from Eastern Province and the Warriors, where he’d been contracted since he’d featured for South Africa in the 2012 under 19 World Cup alongside the likes of Quinton de Kock.
His move to Scotland was supposed to help him kick on in his career but Nqweni ended up in ICU and at one stage was placed in an induced coma for four weeks while his body was ravaged by GBS.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW:
The syndrome is caused by the body’s immune system attacking the nervous system which can lead to full body paralysis, which Nqweni developed. While he was in ICU in Scotland, he suffered from Kidney and Liver failure. His weakened immune system also led to Nqweni developing but successfully fighting off a bout of Tuberculosis.
Nqweni began to make a recovery towards the end of 2019 and in January he was able to travel back to South Africa to continue his recovery from GBS.
Things didn’t get any easier for the allrounder, as he also contracted Covid-19 a few months later, which he also managed to completely recover from.
In this full interview, Nqweni opens up about his battle with the debilitating syndrome as well as his hopes to make a comeback on the cricket field and one day become an administrator within the space.