Amputee Who Sells Water for a Living Shares Her Touching Life Story
- Since she went viral, amputee Mary Daniel has received huge financial support from Nigerians to better her living condition
- Mary said she had engaged in several menial jobs like firewood and fruits selling as well as fetching water for people before she ventured into water hawking
- The 26-year-old said she almost took the most drastic measures but changed her mind
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that people will help her, so thought amputee Mary Daniel Onu who had gone viral after photos of her hawking bottled water surfaced online.
The 26-year-old indigene of Kogi in an interview with BBC narrated how she became an amputee.
Source: UGC
According to her, she lost her leg to an accident that claimed everyone else's life including her parents.
This, she said, happened in 2006. Life took a different turn for the young lady as her condition made her drop out of school in junior secondary school.
She had done menial jobs like firewood and fruits business, fetching water for people and so forth just to care for her little kid and grandmother before she eventually considered bottled water hawking.
Highlighting her challenges as a Lagos hawker, Mary who had migrated to Lagos on her own said at times, motors hit her and customers run away with her money.
Mary stated that she had one time nursed the thoughts of jumping into a Lagos river to take her life but the thought of leaving her child to the care of no one dissuaded her.
Meanwhile, Briefly News reported a young man, Gerhard Grove recently headed to Facebook's ImStaying to share a heartwarming post about an honest petrol attendant, Petrus that went above and beyond to return his wallet that was full of money.
"We stopped for fuel at the Engen garage in Harrismith(the old Engen with the N5 restaurant) and my wallet fell out. Even though my wallet was full of cash, the petrol attendant Petrus found my number inside my wallet and phoned me immediately without taking a cent, there’s still good people out there and they need recognition.
"Thanks to Petrus for my wallet and Fika for letting Petrus use your phone to phone me Engen SA you guys can be proud to have a worker like Petrus working for you," he wrote in the inspiring post.
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!
Source: Briefly News
Maryn Blignaut (Human-Interest HOD) Maryn Blignaut is the Human Interest manager and feature writer. She holds a BA degree in Communication Science, which she obtained from the University of South Africa in 2016. She joined the Briefly - South African News team shortly after graduating and has over six years of experience in the journalism field. Maryn passed the AFP Digital Investigation Techniques course (Google News Initiative), as well as a set of trainings for journalists by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at: maryn.blignaut@briefly.co.za
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
