Parents seek closure after daughter’s death at school

Her mother, Claudia Koch, said she was still trying to come to terms with the child’s death. “She was my everything, and I don’t know how I am going to live without my child,” she told Germiston City News.

The incident took place at about 4pm on Monday, April 20, at Slimkoppe Aftercare Centre in the Sunnyridge area. Mark Rudman of Emergency Medical said the Laerskool Oosterkruin pupil had sustained severe head injuries after a sliding gate fell on her. She was rushed to hospital, where she later died.

“When the accident happened, the aftercare centre called and said I should go straight to Life Roseacres Clinic. At that point I could just feel that my child was gone,” Koch said.

The distraught mother at first could not even remember how to get to the hospital. She eventually had to stop and ask someone for directions. “My baby was just lying there, so hurt, that I couldn’t even hold her. All I could do was kiss her. I kissed her feet and her tummy and her lips, but I was too late,” she sobbed.

The child’s father, Carl Pretorius, said they still did not have closure following the incident and that they were still looking for answers, even after visiting the aftercare centre. “We have heard so many different stories, we don’t know what to believe. When I got there, I noticed two young girls playing near the gate, and there were no teachers around to supervise them. I had to go inside to find teachers,” Pretorius said.

The bereaved parents, however, added the primary school had been incredibly supportive of them. “They even put a teddy bear on her chair, and all her classmates wrote us letters,” Pretorius said.

According to Primrose police spokesperson Sergeant Styles Maome, an inquest docket was opened following the incident, and investigations are still under way.

– Caxton News Service