God gives man from Evander a second chance of life
“There was a tall man - about my length. When I looked at him, he was on his knees, but he was still my length. He said I am God and I will look after you, then I woke up,” said Ruan.
“I am a transformer.”
This is how Ruan van Deventer (31) describes himself.
Three years and two months after a split-second decision changed his life, Ruan tells his story of the road to his recovery.
A decision to catch a lift home with a friend instead of with his dad on the night of his bachelor’s party resulted in an accident on the evening of January 19, 2019.
The vehicle in which Ruan was a front-seat passenger, crashed into a tree metres away from his house in Evander.
The front left-hand side of the vehicle, where Ruan was, was mangled around the tree.
He was rushed to Alberton Trauma Centre with life-threatening head injuries. He spent three months in a coma in the high care unit.
Two doctors told his parents he would not survive, and if he does, he will be in a vegetated state for the rest of his life.
Doctors highly recommended that Ruan’s parents turn off his life support.
However, Ruan defeated all odds and today he is described as a living miracle.
“My God has other plans for me,” said Ruan.
When Ruan came out of a coma, he was transferred to Midstream Rehab where he spent eight months in rehabilitation.
He weighed 100kg before the accident, but during his time in hospital, he dropped down to 60kg.
Ruan had to learn to do everything again such as walking, talking and eating.
A year after his accident, he took his first steps. Today he can run laps around a field.
Ruan had to go into the theatre 13 times for various procedures.
Operations were done for the swelling of his brain and reconstruction of his face with steel plates and much more.
Ruan is deaf in his right ear and blind in his left eye after suffering hemiopia.
Ruan remembers having a dream of God while in a coma.
“There was a tall man – about my length. When I looked at him, he was on his knees, but he was still my length. He said I am God and I will look after you, then I woke up,” said Ruan.
He said that it is through God’s work that he can tell of his testimony today.
His road to recovery has not been an easy one.
Ruan has had his moments where he would question God and ask: “Why me?”
“I have asked God why have I gone through all of these bad things. I was never a bad person, I am a Christian. I have never stolen or murdered.
“But then I think of all the good things that have come out of this bad situation and I feel I must be thankful,” said Ruan.
He goes for weekly physiotherapy treatment with Cindy Viljoen since he came out of the hospital.
He is still working on the recovery of his sight, nerve endings on the right-hand side of his face and regaining full mobility in his right hand and arm.
He gyms daily at home and makes use of Laerskool Hoëveld’s field for running, sprinting and cricket.
He also has a soccer net in his yard that he uses to practise kicking and does daily exercise to help improve his hand and eye coordination.
“Throughout my life, I could never imagine something like this happening to me.
“I don’t want to say that I am happy this has happened to me, but I feel like a lot of things have changed, which is not a bad thing,” said Ruan.
Before his accident, Ruan worked as an IT specialist and was extremely active in all types of sports and social life.
“I am glad I can still live my life and enjoy it.
“My mom and dad are with me every day and support me with everything. If it was not for them, I don’t know where I would be,” said Ruan.
He has also come to realise how important family is.
His life had changed so much that he has lost contact with most of the friends he had before the incident.
Ruan’s parents, Karin and André van Deventer have not left their only child’s side since the moment of his accident and still today Ruan continues to be in his parents’ care.
His parents had left their home in Evander and stayed in Gauteng throughout Ruan’s recovery until he was released from the hospital.
“We don’t remember much. We went through this phase for two years. We couldn’t think but could only do. My wife and I were like machines.
“For more than a year we would get up every day and our first goal of the day would be to go to him, so we continued every day for more than a year,” said André.
He believes this was a freak accident and many people are quick to judge and say they were under the influence of alcohol. But one never thinks how fast things happen in life.
“With the extent of Ruan’s brain injuries, it will take time to completely heal. He fought for his life. This is not permanent but temporary,” said André.
Ruan still has some memory loss and gets flashbacks of certain places or songs as time goes by. Every day brings new challenges of ups and downs and new milestones.
However, for a man who doctors said would never live, Ruan lives his life to the fullest and does not take a day for granted.
Ruan is working hard in regaining proper vision in his eye and has his goal set on getting his driver’s license.
