By Zim GBC News Nutare Correspondent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MUTARE \u2013 A 12-year-old girl is battling severe burns at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital after twice running into a burning house to rescue three young relatives in a pre-dawn fire that has left her family destitute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bravery That Defied Flames<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Choice Mutowo, a Grade Six pupil at Chitakatira Primary School, became trapped in the fire after accidentally igniting blankets while preparing porridge on a gas stove in her bedroom around 5AM Sunday. Despite sustaining burns, she:
\ud83d\udd25 Threw the flaming stove outside
\ud83d\udeaa Broke down the bedroom door
\ud83d\udc67 Carried out 5-year-old Pretty Mufabeni
\ud83e\ude9f Helped 10-year-old Nigel Ndima escape through a window
\ud83d\udc76 Pulled 2-year-old Nishas Ndima from under a bed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“She didn\u2019t just wake up and run. She fought through fire to save lives,” said Sinikiwe Mufabeni, mother of one rescued child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Family\u2019s Desperate Plight<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fire destroyed the Mutowo family home in Dangamvura, where Choice lives with her elderly parents and 10 grandchildren. Her mother Jane revealed their dire circumstances:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My husband is old and sickly. He tried to crawl to the fire but collapsed. Now we need US$30 daily just for Pretty\u2019s medication.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Choice underwent emergency surgery Tuesday to prepare her burns for skin grafts. While Nigel and Nishas were discharged, Choice and Pretty remain hospitalized with critical injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Community Rallies Behind Hero<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Zimbabwe Republic Police Women\u2019s Network donated blankets, food, and medical funds on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We were moved by her bravery,” said Chief Superintendent Estina Chikonzo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But they need more help.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Assist<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donations for medical bills and rebuilding can be directed to:
\ud83d\udcde Jane Mufabeni Mutowo: 0779 103 611
\ud83d\udcde Sinikiwe Mufabeni: 0778 637 386<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zim GBC News\u00a9\ufe0f2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Courage isn\u2019t the absence of fear \u2013 it\u2019s saving lives despite it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Zim GBC News Nutare Correspondent MUTARE \u2013 A 12-year-old girl is battling severe burns at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital after twice running into a burning house to rescue three… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8071,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8069\/revisions\/8071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}