Truck leads to main cause of accident

LYDENBURG – An horrific car accident happened last Saturday when a resident of Burgersfort, Lavonne Murray’s courtesy car was hit by a truck while she was trying to overtake it.

“I was driving to Lydenburg to visit my family. About fifteen kilometres before Lydenburg I overtook a truck, but before I could pass it, the truck moved into my lane and hit my car on the front side first and then on the back.

“My daughter, Mieke Kommer and her friend, Leandra Kinnear were with me in the car. They started screaming and I lost control and went off the road. When I gained consciousness we the car was lying on its side in the bushes,” she told Steelburger/Lydenburg News.

An eyewitnesses who was driving behind her assisted her, but the truck driver drove away. “The ER24 ambulance was summoned to the scene. I was the only one to sustain injuries. Luckily, both children were unharmed, but the car was written off. If it wasn’t for the eyewitnesses I would not have known what had happened,” Murray added. Murray and the children were taken to the Lydenburg Hospital for treatment.

Her father, Jan Nel who assisted her as the hospital said ,“The treatment that Lavonne received at the hospital was not up to standard”. She fractured her shoulder and sustained head- and back injuries as well as bruises to her body.

According to Jan the hospital staff moved Murray around carelessly although she had back injuries. She was also not referred for a CT scans to determine the extent of her head injuries, they only took X-rays the poor quality did not even show the fractures.

Nel said when she was discharged, they only bandaged her shoulder, because the slings were out of stock. Even the pain medication was of a poor standard. Levonne is currently recovering at home. “I am just glad that Levonne and the two girls survived the accident and is safely back at home,” Nel said.

Steelburger/Lydenburg News reported the situation to Mpumalanga’s Department of Health and the following feedback was given by the spokesman for the department, Dumisani Malamule: “The department does not deal with complaints received via the media, hence we urge the patient to submit a written grievance to the department. Once that has been received, we will then look into the matter and request the hospital to provide a full written report from the time when the patient was admitted at the hospital until when discharged. After receiving the full report we shall then decide on the next cause of action”.

The family could provide evidence to the police thanks to one of the eye witnesses that took down the licence plate number of the truck. A case was opened at the Lydenburg Police Station.

Murray urged road users to take precaution when driving on the roads and always keep an eye open for trucks.