A Kempton Park family has praised the work of Avbob Kempton Park in helping them find closure.
For the Ghambala family, tragedy struck when, in October last year, Cresslawn resident Hunter Ghambala went missing.
Several weeks ago, the family discovered that Hunter had been involved in a pedestrian-vehicle collision and subsequently died of his injuries.
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After the crash, Hunter’s body was taken to a nearby government mortuary.
As per standard operating procedures, Hunter’s body remained at the mortuary for an allocated time before being buried as an unknown person.
Hunter’s sister, Melani Thomo, said she had searched high and low for her brother, hoping to find him alive.
“My personal experience is one of frustration.”
During the search for Hunter, the family paid several visits to the mortuary to look for him.
“I visited the mortuary five times and pleaded with them to check their books to see if my brother was there.
“The case number I had returned no results.”
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On March 7, Thomo asked to see the mortuary’s books specifically for the month of October 2023.
“It made sense because that was the month my brother went missing.
“I could identify him through a photo,” she said.
According to the record books, Hunter was involved in a pedestrian-vehicle collision on October 8 along Plane Road.
“We spent so much time looking for Hunter, only to find out that he had died and later buried.
“We had no clue what to do to facilitate an exhumation,” Thomo said.
The family sought help from Avbob in Kempton Park to assist with Hunter’s exhumation and proper reburial.
“They advised us to visit the Department of Health for assistance and Avbob employee, Kobie Griesel, and his wife accompanied us.”
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Thomo said Griesel and his wife walked the path with the family and made sure they get the correct assistance.
“Kobie Griesel and his wife helped us at the Department of Health to get the information and steps to be taken to proceed with this process. Kobie stayed in touch daily and assured us their services were not limited.
“He assisted in obtaining information, documentation and all the way to the day before the exhumation where he told me it was a very traumatic experience to witness an exhumation and recommends that a stronger family member attends instead,” Thomo said.
On April 5, the Avbob team, led by Griesel, facilitated the exhumation.
We reburied Hunter the following day at a cemetery in Kempton Park.
Thomo said her family could finally give her brother the funeral he deserved.
“The AVBOB team was with us throughout the ordeal. Even to the process of obtaining the proper death certificate,” Thomo added.
She said she doesn’t think that she and her family would have been able to rebury her brother if it wasn’t for the help they received from Griesel and the Avbob team.
