Resident searches for guardian angels
What started out as a quiet Sunday afternoon shopping trip turned into something Ina Bushby and her sister, Rina Swart, would like to forget.
POLOKWANE – Bushby and her sister visited Savannah Mall on Sunday, 18 February just before 12:00 to do some shopping.
“We parked in the covered parking area and used the escalator to go to the second level. Halfway up I felt dizzy, lost my balance and fell,” Bushby said.
“I fell down the escalator but couldn’t recover my balance. I kept going up the escalator and falling down again and again, until a young girl and two men came to my aid.”
She said they laid over the escalator, bracing her from getting hurt further by the stairs’ sharp edges. “Someone yelled that the escalator should be stopped, but the only guard on the scene was not able to help. The people who assisted us calmed us down and helped us to the top of the escalator.” Bushby said she and her sister were traumatised and in shock and as a result they can’t recall the people who helped them.
“I do remember another couple helping us. The woman called the man Jakkals and while she sat with us, he went to Dischem to get a wheelchair. I want to thank all of these people who assisted us. The first man to assist us was very traumatised and said he thought he was going to see someone die and couldn’t do anything about it,” Bushby said.
Her injuries include two broken ribs and injured ligaments in her knee. She said she went to the doctor immediately after the incident where she received a tetanus shot, her wounds were cleaned and she went for X-rays. Swart also hurt her leg and arm and has several bruises.
“We just want to warn others about the dangers of escalators. These particular escalators’ stop button are hidden away and not easily accessible,” Bushby said.
Savannah Mall Manager, Sanel Honiball, said they are aware of the incident.
“The stop buttons of the escalators are not easily accessible as it is a risk when there are people on the escalator and someone randomly stops it. If the escalator is stopped suddenly, people can also fall due to the momentum. We do not want everyone to know where the button is.”
About the mall security that did not respond to the incident, she said: “We have the security walking around and circulating the mall as it is sometimes less busy at one area than at another”. Bushby would like to get in contact with the people who assisted them. Contact Cheryllee Hannam at 078 425 7592 if you can help.
