“He bled to death on the inside”

When a man was ruthlessly beaten and left to die in a ditch near his house, nobody thought he would die three months later in Stanger Hospital from internal bleeding that doctors had not identified.

For fear of being victimised, the family has asked not to be named. This is their story:

Dumsani* (60) was attacked and robbed at his home in KwaDukuza on July 24.

Paralysed from the neck down and crying for help, he was found two days later and rushed to Stanger Hospital where he was apparently told he had suffered a stroke, was given some pills and told he would be fine in a couple of days.

Not satisfied with the diagnosis, his wife, a domestic worker in Ballito, spent a fruitless day at the hospital, corresponded with Hingla Jokoo, interim spokesperson via email on July 28, and waited another full day to see the orthopedic surgeon, who then finally arranged for a scan.

The orthopedic surgeon advised that the paralysis was temporary and caused by shock to the body. He said the man would need to stay in hospital to receive physiotherapy and special care for the next few months.

Dumsani’s wife visited him in hospital once a week and tearfully said he was getting worse and worse, remaining paralysed, was not eating and losing weight until he died in the hospital on Saturday, October 17.

She managed to get hold of the autopsy report which stated that her husband had died from severe internal hemorrhaging – he bled to death on the inside.

The autopsy report also stated that he had a neck injury and that diabetes was a secondary cause of death.

“How on earth could they not have known that he had internal bleeding when even his urine bag was constantly filled with blood?” asked the wife.

Dumsani left behind his wife and three adult children.

The Courier brought the matter to Stanger Hospital management’s attention in a meeting on Friday, October 30, phoned the spokesperson, Hingla Jokoo for comment on Tuesday, November 10 and on Friday, November 15, but the Hospital had failed to respond at the time of going to print.

*Name changed.