After graduating from secondary school she studied nursing while working at the Council of People's Commissars of the Kazakh SSR as a secretary to the deputy chairman.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union she tried to join the Red Army and after being rejected she continued medical training and learned how to use a gun.

She and sniper Aliya Moldagulova were the only Kazakh women to become Heroines of the Soviet Union and remain highly revered in Kazakhstan and Russia.

A statue of Mametova was constructed in Oral, but it was renovated in 2015 to include Aliya Moldagulova and navigator Khiuaz Dospanova; the monument was renamed "Glorious daughters of the Kazakh people".

Mametova became one of the most revered heroines of the Soviet Union, with poems, a museum, and songs dedicated to her, demonstrating her as a role model of a soldier who refused to retreat.

In 1969 the Soviet movie "Song of Manshuk" depicted her life in the war, with actress Natalya Arinbasarova playing the role of the heroine.