Riky Rick's mother shares her healing journey in new book
'Dearest MaRicky' is about a mother’s journey through grief, trauma, and healing.
Louisa Zondo will never forget that fateful day on 23 February 2022 when she received a heartbreaking call that her son Rikhado 'Riky Rick' Makhado had passed away.
She's opening about her grief in a new book called, 'Dearest MaRiky — A Mother’s Journey through Grief, Trauma and Healing'.
A snippet from the book details the moment she found out that her 34-year-old son lost his battle with depression.
Louisa talked about the moment Riky's friend, Bheki Nkentshane, and Major League DJz duo, Bandile and Banele Mbere, discovered him in his music studio.
"Sheikani called to say Rikhado’s friend Bheki Nkentshane had managed to pry the studio key out from under the gap at the bottom of the door and unlocked it. He and the Major League DJ twins Bandile and Banele Mbere found Rikhado hanging from a rafter and cut him down. A bellowing noise sent me rolling on the back seat of the car," she wrote, according to an excerpt from the book shared by SA HipHop Magazine.
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Louisa says telling her story gave her clarity and healing on many fronts. She hopes the offering will help other people going through similar grief.
"It is about life, about love, MaRiky and me. Writing this book is a significant mark in my journey of healing. I hope we never ever stop telling our stories," she said.
Lynne Forbes - the mother of slain rapper AKA - congratulated Louisa on the launch of her book.
"Congratulations Louisa. Sharing our stories is so important and I’m looking forward to reading yours," she commented on Instagram.
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In her book, Louisa also talks about her expedition to Mount Everest Base Camp shortly after Riky's death.
The expedition took place just 25 days after he died.
"The mountains wrapped me up in the softest blanket, clearing the path for me to decide to build on Rikhado’s legacy of loving and caring for others, especially young people," she writes.
Louisa shared her Mount Everest journey on her Instagram page. She shared pictures of her journey and captioned them with letters addressed to her son.
Louisa reached Mount Everest Base Camp on day 10 of her trek and laid out a memorial in honour of her son. She revealed that she included memorabilia given to her by his wife, Bianca Naidoo, and their children, Jordan and Maik, before embarking on the trip.
"At Base Camp, everything came together in that amazing “contraction-and-expansion” pattern of the universe., MaRiky. All I could do at this point was to keep bowing in gratitude, joy, peace and hope. I could never find the words to clearly set out the depth of awakening that coming to Base Camp and communicating with you through ritual, was to me," Louisa wrote.
ALSO READ: Cassper Nyovest misses Riky Rick: 'I think about [him] every single day'
Main image credit: Instagram/@rikyrickworldwide, @louisazondo
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