With broken hearts, family and friends said their final goodbye to Dimitri van der Merwe.
Van Der Merwe funeral service was held at the New Apostolic church in Hercules at 13:30 on Friday, afterwhich, mourners went to the Zandfontein cemetery where he was laid to rest.
His brother’s girlfriend, Viancia Slabbert said it was a beautiful funeral.
“The thing that stood out most for me was all the people who attended the funeral. People came from as far as Cape Town,” she said.
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Slabbert said Van der Merwe’s first client also attended his funeral.
“It was a very beautiful thing to see,” she said.
Slabbert said she would miss Van Der Merwe every day.
“We are still very saddened by the loss. We still think about him every day,” she said.
“The other day we went through all of his belongings and it brought so many memories. We laughed and cried.”
Van der Merwe died in an accident two weeks ago in Van der Hoff Road.
Slabbert said Van Der Merwe lived with them in Pretoria Gardens.
“He lived his life every day and he was never negative… he was always positive,” Slabbert said.
“He could walk into a room and know no one, when he walked out everyone would know him – that is just the type of person he was.”
In a previous article, Xander Loubser of Best Care ambulance service had said of the accident, it appeared the driver had hit a tree.
Van Der Merwe was a passenger.
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“When we arrived on the scene, the passenger was trapped in the car,” he said.
Loubser said both the driver and passenger were injured but the passenger was in a critical condition with chest injuries.
“Best Care paramedics tried to treat this man as best they could with limited space,” he said.
“Within 20 minutes, his condition worsened and the fire department had to use rapid excavation to free his legs.”
Loubser said paramedics performed CPR for about 10 minutes before the man was declared dead on the scene.
“The driver suffered chest injuries and was taken to the Pretoria West hospital in a stable condition.”
DA ward councillor, Elma Nel drove with Best Care through the streets of Pretoria.
“I am doing everything in my power to keep the roads in my ward in a good condition,” she said.
She expressed her condolences to the families of the deceased.
Van Der Merwe was the second west resident to die in car accidents within a week.
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