HELP NEEDED: Wolwe rugby player faces leg amputation after shooting
Friends and family are trying to raise funds to have him transferred to a private hospital
Local rugby player Gert Roets (23) faces a possible leg amputation after he was shot from behind in the early hours of Saturday morning.
According to his friend and fellow Wolwe rugby player Johan Strydom, Gert and his friend Devan-Lyell Kruger (23) were on their way home after a night out when the incident happened.
“Gert and Devan-Lyell walked a [female] friend home at around 4am. She lives close to the Van Riebeeck Park Railway Station,” Strydom told Express.
After their friend was dropped off safely, Devan-Lyell and Gert started the 1km journey back to Devan-Lyell’s house. They only had about 500 metres left to go. Gert was telling Devan-Lyell jokes when they heard gunshots behind them.
“They turned around and saw two armed men behind them,” Strydom said. “That’s when they realised they had to run for their lives.”
Strydom went on to describe the event, as recalled to him by Devan-Lyell. “Devan-Lyell ran towards a field to hide and Gert took a shorter route to an open road. He was an open target.”
Two more shots were fired. Gert fell, stood up again and kept on running. Later in hospital, they would learn that a bullet went through his hip and into his left leg.
Gert ran towards the field where Devan-Lyell was hiding but fell into a big hole. The suspects then started looking for Devan-Lyell, but he was hiding in water where the men could not see him.
When Devan-Lyell saw that the men had left, he ran home to call his parents for help. An ambulance and police arrived on the scene 10 minutes later and Gert was rushed to Tembisa Hospital. Nothing was taken from the two friends by the suspects.
“They might have to amputate his leg because it went through his main artery,” Strydom wrote on a Facebook post. He, together with friends and family of Gert are appealing to members of the community to make donations so Gert can be transferred to a private hospital.
“Unfortunately, Gert doesn’t have medical aid. His condition has deteriorated in the past 24 hours so we need to get him moved as soon as possible,” the post read.
Gert is described as a hands-on guy with a kind soul.
A Facebook page ‘Help vir Gertjie’ was created on Tuesday to appeal for support from the community.
A case has been opened at Norkem Park Police Station.
Anyone willing to donate can use the following details:
Account Name: C Bronkhorst
BANK: FNB Festival Mall
BRANCH: 25 01 12
ACCOUNT NO.: 62504760035
Savings account
