When Sarah Whitehead, a medical doctor with a physical disability in Cape Town, left her job at a private hospital she decided to take her future — and that of many others with disabilities — into her own hands.

She and Jayson Chin recently launched Zimele (Xhosa for independence), a non-profit organisation that aims to help amputees from disadvantaged backgrounds live as independent a life as possible.

The first cohort of beneficiaries was made up of four people, three of whom had lost one limb and one double amputee.

Noxolo Langa, 38, from Cape Town is one of the people whose lives has been changed by Whitehead and Chin’s determination to help amputees live their fullest life in the context of a public health system that lacks resources.

Speaking to TimesLIVE premium, Whitehead described herself as……….