Induna Adventures owner widowed for a second time
Jaco Lubbe has been discharged from hospital after the accident which ultimately claimed his second wife, and friends have described him as "shattered".
HAZYVIEW – Mr Jaco Lubbe (36), owner of Induna Adventures and well known in tourism circles, has been left a widower for the second time in five years. He has been discharged from hospital after the accident which ultimately claimed his second wife, and friends have described him as “shattered”.
Ms Christelle Lubbe (30) passed away on Tuesday after suffering extensive head injuries in an accident on the N4 on Sunday. Jaco sustained an injury to the neck and was treated along with his wife in Midmed Hospital in Middelburg. Lowvelder’s sister publication, Middelburg Observer, reported that Jaco, who was conscious during his stay in hospital, was constantly being wheeled in his bed to ICU to hold his wife’s hand. Their baby boy, Janu
(16 months) was with them in the vehicle at the time of the accident. Mr Juan Steyn, an eMalahleni dentist, was an eyewitness and the first to stop at the scene. He found the little boy outside of the wreckage, but miraculously, he was unscathed. Christelle’s parents,
Mr Chris and Ms Jackie van der Burg, were also in the vehicle but hadn’t sustained any injuries either.
Steyn added that Jaco had tried to swerve to avoid a collision with oncoming traffic after which the family’s vehicle overturned. Apparently another car that had entered the N4 via the slipway from the R33 to Belfast, tried to overtake the Lubbes on the left after which the driver lost control and ended up in front of oncoming traffic. “I remember how Jaco tried to avoid the accident, but then the vehicle left the road and overturned. We stopped and ran over the highway to help. When we reached the wreckage, Christelle was alive, but clearly severely hurt. She couldn’t move and had difficulty breathing,” he added. “I saw how she was flung from the vehicle before it continued to overturn.” She was airlifted to Life Midmed. She passed away while family and friends were praying next to her bed. Jaco’s Facebook page has been flooded with messages of support and condolences.
He lost his first wife, Ciska after the birth of their second son, Dian, due to alleged complications in 2010. She was the daughter of Dr Leon and Ms Riëtte Connoway. They both studied in Potchefstroom – she became a dietician and he a biokineticist. They got engaged when Jaco started Induna Adventures and got married in 2004. The couple had an older son, Luan. After her death, the devastated Jaco had to raise both children. Two years after her death, he met Christelle and according to friends, he had a “new zest for life”. The couple would’ve been married for two years in September.
“Christelle was a great person inside and out. She was the whole package and a great mother for their children,” said Ms Ingrid Bouwer, a friend of the couple.
Read the first report here and the second here.
