I pleaded with Thebe to let me drive –Nkobolo
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday February 25, 2023 06:00
It is on a cloudy Saturday morning at the UB Stadium that I spot the figure of Onkabetse Nkobolo slumped in a wheelchair. He is in high spirits as he rocks his wheelchair back and forth despite his obvious predicament. It is a view that local sports fans will have to become accustomed to after a car crash left a promising career in tatters. Nkobolo was at the UB Stadium to attend the Para Sport awareness day. It is a far cry from the Nkobolo who used to wow fans with a brief but rewarding career in the 400m.
He was part of the team that brought home a gold medal from the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where he ran the third leg of the 4x400m relay.
Nkobolo met his fate one night when he and another famous 400m runner, Baboloki Thebe decided to sneak out of the national team camp and take a spin around town. Little did they know things would spiral out of control. During that time, the athletics team was in camp preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
As he narrates his story, tears well up in his eyes, and he struggles to find his voice. Nkobolo said moments before the accident, he had pleaded with Thebe to let him drive.
“We were using Baboloki’s car; mine was at the hotel. I could see that he was drunk, but I could not force him to allow me to drive his car. The guy also knew he was drunk,” Nkobolo narrated.
He said what pains him the most is that he was sober.
“Sometimes I just sit back and think that this time I could be doing this or that if I was not injured. My life now revolves around the gym and physiotherapy. Despite what I am going through due to his recklessness, Baboloki does not check on me, I cannot even remember the last time we spoke,” he said with an emotional voice.
Nkobolo said Baboloki belongs to a past life that he wants to forget. Thebe went on to win a bronze medal at last year’s Olympic Games with the 4x400m team and the government rewarded him and his colleagues with a two-bedroomed house.
Before that fateful night, Nkobolo was one of the country’s promising talents. He was part of a strong 4x400m relay team, but all that is gone. He was earning a living through sport, but now he depends on Good Samaritans for survival. Nkobolo said it was hard at first and he struggled to accept that he was unable to walk and that he was stuck in a wheelchair due to the injuries he sustained from the accident.
“So here I was in the wheelchair. I was wondering how I was going to survive. I also did not know the challenges I will face. Today I cannot travel anywhere without someone. There is no privacy. It is a process to transfer me from the car to the wheelchair and vice-versa.
But sometimes I do things on my own but it is better when I am assisted. I have come to terms that this is my life now, I should move on,” Nkobolo said. The 29-year-old said he has accepted his condition or else he was not going to heal emotionally. He made up his mind that what happened, has happened, he should face the future and open a new chapter in life. Nkobolo said sports leaders have cut him off and there is no support that he is getting. He has decided to forget about them. Nkobolo said at the moment the plan is to be the face of Para Sport. He said maybe he would go back to the track as a Para athlete one day.
“I went to India last year where I underwent six weeks of rehabilitation in a programme at the Indian Spinal Cord Centre. They confirmed my injury and I should remain positive. The rehabilitation assisted me a lot. I can now feel my legs,” he said. Nkobolo believes that one day he will walk again and his partnership with physiotherapist Kabo Molefhe continues.
“Sport psychologist, Kagiso Tlhabano-David assisted me mentally, that is why I can smile again. My family is still struggling to cope with this situation. It is hard but sometimes I can see that they are pretending to be fine,” Nkobolo said.
His wish is for Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) to offer him a job. Nkobolo lost his mother and father at a young age. He stays with his aunt and brother, who is unemployed, in Tlokweng.
Nkobolo competed at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing narrowly missing out on making the semi-finals. In addition, he won two medals at the 2015 African Games. His personal bests in the event are 45.10 seconds outdoors (Brazzaville 2015) and 46.86 seconds indoors (San Sebastián 2015).