The article ‘I held her hand and watched her die’, which featured on page 3 of the 9 June edition of the News has reference.
I was with Kyla Parker when we found the deceased’s phone in her handbag.
Firstly, I know it’s everybody’s own decision to put a password on their screen lock, however in this case we tried so hard to get into the phone to get hold of her family as we could clearly see that she was passing on.
After many attempts we gave up. We found her medical aid card with her ID and I decided to call the medical aid company emergency number which was routed to Netcare 911. I explained the situation, that I had all the details of the person and needed to speak to somebody at customer care to try and get hold of a next of kin, only to be told “Sorry, you need to phone at 8am when they open”.
Kyla found the victim’s employer details in the car and also tried to call the office, but it was so early that she was not able to get through.
I have never had a password on my phone for this simple reason, my husband’s number is even saved as the in case of emergency (ICE) should I ever be in such a situation. Needless to say, my husband took his password off his phone the following day …
I urge people to please not put passwords on their phones – should you ever be in this kind of situation, wouldn’t you like somebody to call your loved ones?
There was a woman at the scene who was a first aider. She was trying her utmost to do everything for this young woman and I honestly think not only her but everybody that stopped and tried to assist, and the gentleman that kept following up with the ambulance to see how far they were, deserves a huge thank you. And to the young woman’s family, our sincere condolences.
