Tree falls on friends

Njabulo Maduna (20) and Sanele Mngoma (19) were walking across the park to Kenyon Howden Road during the severe storm on Thursday when the accident happened. Sanele recalls the day’s events: “Njabulo and I were walked to a shop in Kenyon Howden Road. Just before entering the park, we saw some of our friends and we spoke to them for a short while. We continued into the park, and stopped to talk to another friend and we were laughing and joking and he walked off.

Then all of a sudden we heard a cracking noise. I looked at Njabulo and he was looking up, that’s when the tree fell on top of us. We couldn’t move. We called out to our friend, but he couldn’t see us, we were under the tree. I was holding my cellphone and when the tree fell on top of us, it fell next to me. I used it to send messages to get help. Our friend eventually saw us and asked some of our friends close-by to help him lift the tree off us. My leg was broken, Njabulo’s leg was bleeding heavily.”

“A woman from Park Patrol was on the scene, and the police came, but they couldn’t do much. A woman covered us with blankets. I was in a lot of pain. It was raining and the water was entering our wounds and caused even more pain. When our mothers arrived on the scene, they just started crying. I was told the ambulance took long to arrive. At first, one ambulance came, and they took me to hospital first. My right leg was broken in three places and I sustained injuries to other arms and other parts of my body.”

Both of them were taken to St Augustine’s Hospital and have been there since the accident. Njabulo was taken to and is still in ICU. His left leg was amputated at the knee on Sunday morning.

“The incident has changed my whole life. At one stage I felt like giving up on life. The support from my family and friends has given me hope. The way I lived my life before will change. I cannot no longer simply walk to my friends house, I cannot continue my studies next year and I can no longer play with my little sister. The sooner I accept things the better it will be. I have to be strong for my mother. I actually thought I was going to die, I prayed a lot. Before the amputation, Sanele sent me a voice note and prayed for me. He’s always been there for me, we grew up together,” said Njabulo.

Both families were traumatised, and showed immense support for each other. |

Njabulo’s mother, Gugu Ngcobo, said: “I cried all the way as I drove from work. When I saw him lying on the ground I originally thought he was dead. When I got closer I saw he was alive. He wasn’t crying out in pain but you could see from his face that he was shocked. On Saturday we received news about the amputation, that didn’t sit well with me. I couldn’t digest it. I kept thinking about him, how he was going to take the news. After the amputation, it was hard, it hurt. He still cries about it, about how his life is going to change. We try and be strong for him, and not show him our pain, but when we are alone, we feel it. We have sleepless nights.” His stepfather, Sizwe Ngcobo said the family is heartbroken and frightened about how it happened. He said the family and friends support him and show that he is loved.

Thandi Mngoma, Sanele’s mother said she felt like her world had come to an end when she saw her son lying on the ground. His father, Thamsanqa Mngoma said: “It has traumatised us a lot. Sanele was hurt when he found out about Njabulo’s amputation. We are trying to cope as a family. You can scee from the scene that they were not meant to make it. I don’t know how we will get past this. There was a lot of blood. We visit him and support him. Friends and church members have also been paying him visits.”

Sanele said his spirits are lifted when his family and friends visit him, but when he is alone he gets depressed. “I cry when I think about him. They said I’ve been told I’m not allowed to see him. It’s hard what he has to face. I want us to be better and leave hospital, the doctor says I’m getting better, but I don’t see it, I’m still in a lot of pain.” said an emotional Sanele.

“It doesn’t give me any peace to know Montclair park is not safe. The park is not looked after and the clubhouse is used by whoonga addicts.”

Ward councillor Billie Prinsloo, said: “I am waiting for a report from the municipality. If the tree was diseased, it was the parks department to ensure it was cut down. If it needed trimming, the weight of the branches could have caused the tree to fall over in heavy wind.”

-mbalim@dbn.caxton.co.za