Man’s leg amputated in north mountain rescue
"A rock fell on the man and pinned him to the ground."
A 30-year-old man’s leg had to be amputated during a rescue operation at a mountain in Onderstepoort in the north of Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon. The man’s right leg got stuck beneath a giant rock at around 9:00 in the morning and he was only freed about 12 hours later.
Emergency personnel from the Tshwane Emergency Management Services (EMS) were called to the scene after a group of people failed to free him.
“We were called to the scene at around 15:00,” said Tshwane EMS spokesperson Charles Mabaso.
“A rock fell on the man and pinned him to the ground.”
A group of people tried to free him, but after hours of trying to free him in vain, they called for help.” Mabasa said the boulder was about 1.5 meters in diameter.
“He was stabilised on the scene by paramedics as emergency workers tried to extract him from underneath the rock.”
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After nearly six hours of attempting to free the man, a medical doctor was called to evaluate the man.
“A decision was made to amputate the man’s leg as all efforts to rescue him failed.”
Mabaso said it was too risky to remove the rock as he could have been crushed in the attempt.
“There were also other unstable rocks in the area.”
After the man’s right leg was amputated, he was airlifted to the Steve Biko hospital at around 22:00 where he received further medical treatment. Mabaso said bringing the man down the mountain to be airlifted also proved to be a challenge because of the location, terrain and nightfall.
“I can’t confirm what the man was doing on the mountain when he got stuck. Conflicting stories suggest he was either praying or hunting on the mountain.”
He said it was a once-in-a-lifetime rescue. Mabaso thanked and commended his colleagues as well as the emergency workers from the Gauteng provincial EMS for their hard work during the rescue.
“They went beyond the call of duty to ensure the safety of the patient in trying circumstances.”
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