Boy Who Never Gave Up
In 1994, sixteen-year-old Emmanuel Taban walked out of war-torn Sudan with nothing, and nowhere to go. In the preceding months he was abducted and then tortured by government forces, who falsely accused him of spying for the South Sudanese rebels.
He managed to flee, hoping to be reunited with his family, but ended up going on a long and arduous journey through many African countries to South Africa. For many months Taban lived mostly on the street and faced many dangers, but he refused to give up.
He arrived in South Africa penniless, and with only five years of schooling. Determined to get a proper education, Taban first completed school and then his medical studies. After specialising as a pulmonologist in 2018, he recently made a ground-breaking discovery around the treatment of hypoxemic COVID-19 patients.
Taban overcame extreme poverty, racism and xenophobia to become the man he is today. Heart-warming and inspiring, his life story is one of survival against all odds.
When the 17-year-old EMMANUEL TABAN arrived in Johannesburg from war-torn South Sudan with nothing, he had only five years of education behind him.
Today this former Medunsa student is a highly qualified pulmonologist, with a European Diploma in adult respiratory medicine. During 2020, he was at the forefront of the treatment of Covid-19 patients in ICU.
Taban was the first pulmonologist in the world to perform a therapeutic bronchoscopy on a hypoxemic Covid-19 patient, discovering that some deaths from Covid-19 pneumonia are due to fibrinous mucus plugs.