Germiston Stadium tragedy robs Delville family of their flamboyant three-year-old
MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Mbali Hlophe paid her respects to the family of Yurna Mahumane, who tragically lost his life at Germiston Stadium.
“Mommy and daddy don’t cry, Yurna is just sleeping at the stadium.”
These were the words of three-year-old Francisco Mahumane, who lost his identical twin brother Yurna, last Saturday, at Germiston Stadium, following an incident involving a scrum machine.
Yurna and Francisco, from Delville, had just returned from sporting activities in Edenvale, with their father David Baúqe, an ice-cream vendor who frequents sporting events in and around Germiston.
“I had no intention of staying too long at the stadium,” said David.
“I was there to collect our house keys from my eldest son Dihno, who was selling ice cream at the stadium, then head home to feed the twins.
“Upon our arrival at the stadium, I thought he might be on the other side of the stadium by the athletics tracks, and we were on the rugby fields.”
As a friend went in search of Dinho, Yurna, the outgoing one of the twins, asked his father if he could go play with the other children who were kicking balls around, while others pushed the scrum machine back and forth.
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David saw no issue with Yurna’s request, as his son had always been friendly and wanted to be among other children whenever he took him to events, Francisco joined his brother.
However, this time, when David saw his sons running towards the group of children, he had not anticipated that only one would return.
“I was sitting on the grandstands when I felt Francisco tugging at my pants, panting, calling me to turn and come to the aid of his brother,” he said.
When David turned, he saw a paramedic holding his son up, and he ran towards them.
“When I reached the emergency services personnel and Yurna, I took him into my arms and all I could see was blood oozing from his head, shooting from his nose and foaming at his mouth,” David recalled.
“The paramedic ordered me to step aside and let him do his job, but, unfortunately, my son was unresponsive, there was no pulse and he was bleeding profusely.
“I wanted to remain hopeful, but part of me knew Yurna’s spirit had left the world.”
As his son lay lifeless on the field, David felt numb and unable to speak, as he had to make a heartbreaking phone call to his wife Fatima Mahumane.
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“The scrum machine, which was allegedly being pushed back and forth on an uneven part of the field, rolled and hit Yurna, as he was running after a ball.
“It allegedly hit his head and rolled over the left side of his torso.
“I could not bear to tell my wife what had transpired, I called a woman who has a stall right next to hers, and I was hardly audible in telling her what happened,” David said.
Fatima heard a loud cry from the woman and when she took the phone and placed it to her ear she could only hear bawling on the other end.
She rushed to the stadium, where she found her distraught sons and husband.
“I initially thought my child was hit by a car outside the stadium, I was not expecting to see his body on the field near that machine.
“There is no scale that could measure one’s loss of losing a child, all I needed when I arrived was my child’s body to be removed from the ground, and I wanted to take my family home,” said Fatima.
According to Fatima, last Sunday morning marked the first of many mornings which would remain a reminder that Yurna had died, as he was the early bird in the family.
“He got up early and woke his father up every morning, begging him to switch the TV on for him so he could watch cartoons,” she said.
Francisco has been calling out for his brother every night since the incident, he is under the impression that his brother is only sleeping for a little while at the stadium, but he will soon wake.
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“Nothing will reconcile our hearts, but we will move on,” said David.
“The greatest challenge about having lost a son is having to raise one who witnessed the death of his identical brother.
“As we come to terms with the death of our child, we still have an immense task ahead of us, of explaining to Francisco what happened to his brother, his friend.”
The family, who are originally from Mozambique, travelled to their hometown Matola on Thursday in preparation of the funeral which took place on Friday.
The family said they will remember Yurna as a child filled with life and a big personality.
At just three years old, Yurna had learnt how to speak English, Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho apart from his mother tongue, Portuguese.
His father said he achieved this through his love of interacting with people, he was far from shy and he made friends wherever he went.
“When tragedy strikes so suddenly and it is inexplicable, we often seek someone to blame; however, in this case, we cannot point a finger at anyone, we believe it was an accident,” said David.
Newly appointed MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Mbali Hlophe paid the family a visit on Wednesday to pay their respects as a department and offer any aid the family may require.
“When we heard of this tragedy, it was important to us that we visit the family to show our support.
“No parent should bare the pain of burying a child,” said Hlophe.
Hlophe urged the family to consider counselling, especially for Francisco, when they return from Matola.
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