Man (48) would rather amputate leg than return to local hospital
He has now started begging to raise funds for his medical care.
Local resident Gerhardus van Antwerp (48) has taken to a life of begging in a desperate attempt to raise money for his medical bills.
This former general worker and golf caddie has not been able to get a job for two years, as an injury to his right leg forces him to walk with crutches.
Van Antwerp was hit by a car in 2006 while walking home from work.
“The guy left me for dead,” he told Express. Having no medical aid at the time, he was taken to Tembisa Hospital.
According to him, the service he received there was not up to scratch.
“The bed sheets were filthy. While treating my leg the older doctor told the younger doctor ‘next time I’ll show you how to do it properly’.” Van Antwerp’s leg was put in a cast and he was released from hospital.
“I had pain all these years and then a bump started forming on my leg,” he said, pointing to the bandages on his lower leg. A bump could clearly be seen. “I forgot about it and just thought it didn’t grow back properly.”
This, until last year October, when his pain became excruciating.
“I got medicine which helped, but this year March it started getting an infection.” Van Antwerp had X-rays taken, which showed a septic fracture in his leg.
“It was never repaired properly by doctors at Tembisa,” he suspected. The other hospital he visited turned him away, telling him to go back to Tembisa Hospital. “I told the doctor to then rather amputate my leg, because I’m not going back there.”
One hospital is willing to help van Antwerp if he pays an R800 fee. Van Antwerp lives in a shack with his partner of almost 10 years.
“We only have 30 days left to stay there. We need to move and I don’t have any money.”
At this moment in his interview with Express, van Antwerp started crying uncontrollably.
“It’s the first time in my life that I’ve had to beg,” he said with tears streaming down his face. He seemed a broken man, desperate to find a job.
Van Antwerp won a case with the Road Accident Fund and was awarded a sum of money.
“Unfortunately I lost this, due to some bad investments,” he said.
“You end up getting tired, man. I had a job opportunity on Wednesday, but this leg makes it difficult.”
