BOOK REVIEW The Boy Who Never Gave Up

The Boy Who Never Gave Up

Author: Dr Emmanuel Taban

Publisher: Jonathan Ball

Year of publication: 2021

Number of pages: 245

Reviewer: Clive Novis (clivenovis@mweb.co.za)

Every doctor has struggled through years of hardship: blood, sweat and tears (literally). Struggled all their young lives to be able to get into med school. Struggled through med school. Struggled to get into a speciality programme. Struggled through that. Some have struggled more than others. Some have prevailed against all odds. This is one such story. And it must surely be the ultimate ‘against all odds’ story.

Emmanuel Taban was born in 1977 in Juba, which is the capital of south Sudan.

He was born into a poor family who lived in one of the poorest countries on Earth. Not only a poor country but a war-torn country. Shocking violence and barbarity was commonplace. Young Emmanuel had one driving ambition: to educate himself, rise out of poverty, and then help his family, community and country to do the same.

He was only 16 years old when he ran away after being unfairly threatened by police. He was penniless, paperless, with absolutely nothing to his name. Not even food or water. He did not even have time to say goodbye to his beloved mother and siblings (his father had left his mother before he was born).

He walked alone for hundreds of kilometres. At any time he could have been kidnapped by rebel forces and forced to become a soldier. Most of these young soldiers would be slaughtered in battle or emotionally or physically scarred for life. He spent months getting from Sudan to Eritrea, to Ethiopia, to Kenya. Then onto Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and eventually, South Africa.

With help from several very kind and generous people, Emmanuel managed to get his matric. He was then accepted to study medicine at Medunsa. He graduated as a medical doctor in December 2004, commenting ‘it felt like the greatest achievement imaginable’.

He did his internship at Kalafong Hospital earning a monthly salary of R6 540 which enabled him to buy his first (old second-hand) car. He did his community service in Bethal, Mpumalanga. During this time, his brother in Sudan died. He flew back to Sudan to see his mother and family for the first time in ten years! The reunion was a surreal occasion as many of his family had given him up for dead.

Dr Taban then went onto specialise in Internal Medicine at the University of Pretoria. He spent four years at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. It was at this time that he developed his three principles for success: passion, determination and consistency. He also met his future wife there at the library. Her name was Motheo and she was a physiotherapy student.

In 2011 he started practising at the Highveld Mediclinic in Trichardt, Mpumulanga. He did very well in private practice but yearned to continue studying. So he went back to academia and super-specialised in Pulmonology at Wits. He officially qualified as a pulmonologist in October 2018.

Dr Taban became famous during the Covid pandemic in 2020 when he discovered that sucking out mucus plugs from the small airways could allow respiration to function again. He developed a bronchoscopy technique for doing this. At the time of writing of this, trials are ongoing to determine the safety and efficacy of his technique.

Dr Taban was disillusioned when he went back to Sudan a decade later to find that hardly any improvements had been made. He blames the sad state of affairs on misuse of political power. He states: ‘Power should not be an end in itself. Leaders should be able to support themselves on their legitimate salaries without plundering national resources that would be better spent building schools and hospitals and laying water pipes and electricity cables.’

Dr Emmanuel Taban is a true African hero. I hope he becomes our next Minister of Health and maybe even President of South Africa! 