A LOCAL businessman who fell off a cliff face on a motorbike came face-to-face with his rescuers in an emotional reunion at Netcare Umhlanga Hospital today. William Labuschagne broke both his tibia and fibia after falling off a 15 metre high cliff fall near lower Loteni in November last year. Labuschagne had to be ferried across a river on a rubber dinghy in an ordeal which lasted for five and a half hours. What’s more, the Ballito businessman used WhatsApp to GPS his location to his rescuers.

Today he thanked paramedics, Dewald Schoeman and Julian Brown, who were instrumental in saving his life, hailing his rescue as a ‘miracle’.

“It was Friday the 13th, I was doing an adventure ride with KTM and about seven other riders. It was about 5pm and I was at a top of a cliff trying to navigate past an anthill. I was astride the bike when the pannier nicked the anthill causing the bike to overturn. I just remember thinking this is not good. All I saw through the visor of my helmet was earth, sky, ground, earth, sky, ground. I landed on a soft patch of grass and I knew I’d broken my leg.

“The bone was sticking through the shin, I was so full of adrenaline that I just pushed the bone back in. The pain began to set in after a few minutes; it was excruciating.  It was a miracle where I landed, because there were jagged rocks all around me and a river to my left, I avoided all of that and didn’t have a single wound or scratch anywhere else on my body. I had my phone out on my chest and I calmly phoned my wife, who coordinated the rescue effort. She got hold of the paramedics and I was able to send them a GPS location to pinpoint exactly where I was. They were amazing and conscientious,” he said.

Almost a year later, Labuschagne, with tears in his eyes thanked the paramedics who saved his life.

“They saved my life, if it wasn’t for them and their swift response, I wouldn’t be alive. It’s been a tough road to recovery and I am standing here today because of  Dewald and Julian. I’m eternally grateful to both of them.”