Stanger hospital’s Dr McDreamy is a bike fanatic

Stanger Hospital is home to the North Coast’s very own McDreamy, or better even McSteamy, with a hardcore edge – he has tattoos and drives a mean motorbike!

At first sight, you would not imagine that Dr Werner Rossouw with his dashing smile, humble nature and kind manner is a bike fanatic, but the young doctor said he was born with biking in his blood.

“My dad was always a biker. I was the first born and when my mom had me she forbid my dad from riding.

“So he had this suppressed love for bikes in my growing up years,” said Dr Rossouw, who grew up in the Western Cape.

The closest thing allowed to a bike was a bicycle.

His dad taught him how to ride his bicycle at an early age and made him cycle to school from grade three to learn road sense.

When he reached grade nine, the bug bit and his dad bought him his first motorbike – a Honda CBR 125.

“This was the dream bike for every school boy. It was an orange, red and blue bike with a repsol livery. My mom was not happy!”

His dad had one condition before handing over the bike – no more petrol money, from now on Dr Rossouw had to earn his drive.

He worked as a waiter and a farm hand on the beautiful Belville wine farms to pay for the petrol and quickly made enough money to upgrade his bike to an off road number.

“I bought an Aprilia MX 125 off road bike when I was 17. It was a two-stroke bike with way more power.

“This was then upgraded to a white BMW R 1200 GS a year later. It was a proper bike and we did a lot of trips to Cederberg and Mozambique.”

After varsity, he was placed at Stanger Hospital and sold his bike to cover some of his study loan and because his dad did not trust the KZN roads.

“My dad said the KZN roads are too dangerous for a bike, so I had to use my car.

“I really missed the bike and after 11 years with one, I could not live without it.”

He broke his budget and bought a BMW F 850 GS – a new bike for the adventure lover.

“The dealer principal told me mine was the first one to be fully modified in KZN,” said Dr Rossouw who is currently in his second internship year and hopes to specialise as a plastic surgeon.

Being a doctor in the trauma unit, Dr Rossouw has seen enough bike accident victims to know how dangerous the machines are, yet he said it is a passion he cannot deny.

“I am scared of getting into an accident and I try to take care of my body because I need it for my job.

“I respect the road a lot, I think of riding a bike like swimming in the ocean – you know there are currents and sharks but you respect it and the reward is totally worth it.”

He said nothing can compare to the feeling of a riding on the open road in the country side, helmet speakers blasting heavy metal music.

“Riding through rivers and mud and enjoying nature is the best – it clears my mind. I just love it. It’s a thrill.

“It’s not about going fast always, it’s the freedom and that whole feeling of man and machine.

“It’s not a car with fancy seats, a radio and aircon – it’s just you, a machine, two wheels and that raw fun.”