{"id":5047,"date":"2023-05-01T19:42:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T19:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=5047"},"modified":"2023-05-02T19:47:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T19:47:35","slug":"south-african-hero-is-big-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=5047","title":{"rendered":"South African Hero Is Big In Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Magazine Features<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KLERKSDORP, South Africa \u2014 LIFE once seemed bleak and hopeless, his grandmother\u2019s social grant the only thing keeping him and his mother from starving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paballo Lobone is a qualified firefighter and paramedic but couldn\u2019t find a job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a really hard time for me,\u201d says the 26-year-old from Klerksdorp in Matlosana, North West. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined then that he\u2019d become a figure of inspiration in a country halfway across the world \u2013 a real-life hero who puts the needs of others before his own. Paballo proudly shows us the English textbook for Japanese middle-school pupils in which his courageous deeds are detailed under the headline, \u201cPabalelo [sic] Lobone, the local hero with gloves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one other South African is featured in the book: none other than Nelson Mandela. \u201cIt\u2019s a great honor to be in a book with Madiba. It makes me feel I have a good heart and people see that,\u201d Paballo says. And a good heart he certainly has.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the dark times and the difficult days, there was always a golden thread running through his life. He was always in the right place at the right time to help people in need: he delivered a baby on the busy streets of Johannesburg, rescued women who\u2019d been trapped under a car wreck and helped put out fires in his community \u2013 all while he was unemployed and didn\u2019t know where his next meal would be coming from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paballo\u2019s determination to make a difference is also driven by tragedy: last year his baby son died at birth, and he\u2019s made it his life\u2019s mission to save lives and help people. \u201cThe world is a cruel place,\u201d Paballo says. \u201cWe need to take care of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE streets of Alabama in Klerksdorp are crowded with people and animals. On one road, a long line of patients waits to be seen at the community clinic where Paballo now works. After four years of searching for a job, he found one as an admin clerk in 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s still his dream to be a full-time paramedic, but at least he\u2019s working in the field he loves so much \u2013 one where the needs of people and his ability to help them meet, he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to get a few ambulances and start my own emergency service one day, but I\u2019m grateful to have a job and to be able to provide for my mom and gran,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as a child, Paballo knew he wanted to help people. He was living with his mom, Mendo Inno, grandfather Oneboy and gran Gloria when his granddad suddenly died in his sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody could help him,\u201d Paballo recalls.\u201c My mom was hysterical. That\u2019s when I realized I didn\u2019t want to experience something like that again \u2013 I wanted to be able to help people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his granddad died, Paballo was suddenly the man of the house and felt it was his responsibility to care for his mom and gran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After several years his mom remarried and his stepdad was a good man who saw potential in his young stepson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe worked on the mines and made it possible for me to complete my paramedic and firefighter courses after school. I\u2019m grateful to him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paballo had high hopes when he started going to job interviews, but he soon became disillusioned when he failed to get one job after another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI was so down. My gran would always say it\u2019s just not yet my time. I had to be patient.\u201d As the months dragged on, situations arose where Paballo could put his emergency skills \u2013 and instincts \u2013 to use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, a house in his neighborhood caught fire, and he sprang into action immediately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe nearest tap was far away. My neighbors came knocking on my door asking for help. From my training, I recalled the bucket brigade \u2013 a bunch of people stand in a line and pass along buckets of water. I had them form a bucket brigade, and we managed to put out the fire and saved many of the belongings of the woman who lived there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few months later, there was a car crash in town. Once again, Paballo was in the right place at the right time. \u201cFour women were trapped under the wreck. The ambulance hadn\u2019t arrived yet, but I managed to stabilize them until the emergency services arrived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was the first face the people in the car saw after the crash. Afterward, one of the women thanked me and said if it hadn\u2019t been for me, she probably wouldn\u2019t be alive today.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, while he was working part-time at a local casino, he helped save a life once again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was walking to the petrol station near the casino at 11 at night when a man came running toward me. He was bleeding \u2013 he\u2019d been stabbed. I happened to have gloves and bandages in my backpack, so I treated him right there in front of the casino and got some paper serviettes from the KFC.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in 2018, when Paballo was pounding the pavements of Hillbrow, Johannesburg, looking for work, he spotted a group of people huddled around a woman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I went closer, I saw that the woman was in labor. People wouldn\u2019t let me through until I told them I was a qualified paramedic.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paballo borrowed some gloves from a hair salon across the street and rushed back to the scene. \u201cI delivered the baby right there in the street and someone brought blankets. The dad was in tears. They named the baby after me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News of Paballo\u2019s deeds started to travel and the SA media began to report on this humble hero. Now he\u2019s famous far outside his community, country and even continent \u2013 so just how did the Japanese hear of him? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone who was compiling a textbook on inspirational people around the world contacted a local journalist for ideas, Paballo explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe journalist had done a story about me, so he suggested me for the book. When they were compiling the book, I did Skype interviews with them,\u201d Paballo recalls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when the book was published, the publisher sent him a copy from Tokyo. What does his family think about his newfound international recognition? \u201cMy gran is super proud of me. She heard me praying to God every night, asking for help. She\u2019s just afraid that I\u2019ll decide to move to Japan,\u201d he jokes. \u201cI\u2019d like to visit Japan someday \u2013 maybe I can teach the kids first aid. It\u2019s important that everyone knows basic first aid.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the clinic, Paballo\u2019s white Polo Vivo is parked, a sticker with baby footprints and the name Oaribile on the windscreen. It\u2019s the name of his and his partner\u2019s baby son, the little boy who died at birth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one could help him,\u201d Paballo says. \u201cIf only someone like me had been there to save my child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Additional reporting provided by MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Published without changes from Zenger News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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