#LiveLikeLesedi — a dream, a call to action, a movement — inspired by Lesedi Motsukunyane who tragically left us on Thursday, 17 May 2018.
“Lesedi was energy and she was light. An assertive little girl who started showing her strengths very early on in her short life. She lived in the moment, fearlessly,” says Namhla, Lesedi’s mom and founder of the movement.
“Prior to Lesedi’s untimely passing, I had been training for the Comrades Marathon down run. I had run it the previous year for the first time. My immediate decision after losing Lesedi was that there is no way that I would have the physical and mental strength to run and complete the race,” she continues.
“My husband quickly reminded me of the energetic and vibrant soul we are blessed with, who will forever live in our hearts. There was no better way to honour her memory and keep her name alive. True to the hashtag, this was the first step towards living like Lesedi.”
Namhla went on to run and complete the marathon, beating her previous years time by almost an hour.
#LiveLikeLesedi and 947 Ride Joburg
Before her passing, Lesedi and her older sister, Orefile took part in the 947 Ride Joburg Kids ride.
“At the time Lesedi was 6 years of age and still very comfortable with her training wheels, refusing to let them go,” says Namhla.
It was just a few short months later that Lesesi mastered riding without the training wheels. ”She was looking forward to taking part in the [ride] again. This time, without training wheels.”
“Lesedi didn’t get the chance to do that. And so I wanted to take part in the ride on her behalf.”
This is when Namhla reached out to us — she hadn’t taken part in a cycling race before and her experience was limited to riding around her block and attending spinning classes.
Our team was so touched by her story, we knew we wanted to help her cross the finish line, and spread her message, in any way we could. We’re proud to have provided her with a bicycle and cycling jersey for her first race in 2018.
Since then, Namhla and her family and friends have embodied #LiveLikeLesedi at every 947 Ride Joburg, including 2021 as seen in the pictures below:
Namhla, thank you for sharing Lesedi’s story and allowing us to be a part of it! We hope to see you continue to live each day as she did, as will we.
