The Boy Who Never Gave Up
By refusing to give up, Emmanuel Taban has risen above extreme poverty, racism and xenophobia to become a South African legend. Taban was the Daily Maverick’s African Person of the Year (2021)
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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.
By refusing to give up, Emmanuel Taban has risen above extreme poverty, racism and xenophobia to become a South African legend. Taban was the Daily Maverick’s African Person of the Year (2021)
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