Elderly couple fighting for their lives
It’s still unclear how the accident happened but the car veered off the road and collided with a huge tree on the side of the road
Bleeding profusely an elderly couple sat in their vehicle together waiting for help from emergency services after their car had collided with a tree.
Mr Trevor Shaw (76) and his wife, Ms Johanna Shaw (74) were travelling in their Renault Duster to Middelburg on the Old Middelburg Road.
It’s still unclear how the accident happened but the car veered off the road and collided with a huge tree on the side of the road.
Trevor and Johanna both sat in the car bleeding from their injuries while waiting for help to arrive.
A resident from eMalahleni also travelling along the road noticed the vehicle up against the tree and the elderly man sitting there.
He immediately stopped and reassured Trevor that everything was going to be alright as help was on its way.
JD-Med was the first ambulance to arrive on the scene and they took Trevor to the ambulance.
Trevor’s son, Mr Peet Shaw arrived on the scene and was shocked to see how seriously injured his parents were.
Minutes later an ambulance from Legacy Emergency Specialists arrived on scene and they started treating Johanna who was critically injured inside the vehicle.
Paramedics from ER24 also arrived on the scene and they started to treat Trevor.
Trevor kept on asking the paramedics Karlien Nell and Adriaan Grobler who were treating him about his wife.
Karlien reassured Trevor that his wife was in good hands.
Once Trevor was stabilized, he was immediately taken to Life Cosmos Hospital by ER24.
Trevor sustained multiple abrasions and it’s still unclear what other injuries he sustained.
He had gone for scans to determine if anything else is wrong.
Johanna was more critical and she sustained multiple injuries.
“We responded to a serious motor vehicle accident on the R555 this morning just before 08:00. Upon arrival, we found two patients and started treating the worst of the two. The patient sustained critical injuries to her face, torso and both arms. The patient was intubated on the scene and stabilised by advanced life support. The patient was transported with an escort to Life Cosmos Hospital where the trauma team was awaiting her arrival. She has been flown per helicopter to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg for further management. Her husband remains in Life Cosmos Hospital. He was able to greet his wife from his hospital bed before she was loaded into the helicopter,”
said Mr Gene Jacobs from Legacy Emergency Specialists.
Late on Tuesday evening Trevor was transferred to Unitas Hospital for further treatment.
“My dad is in Unitas Hospital, he is in a stable condition. My mom went in for an emergency operation last night and she went for another operation on Wednesday, February 5 where the doctors were going to work on her one shoulder and then on Monday, February 10 she will undergo another operation on her other shoulder,” said Peet.
Video: Elderly couple seriously injured in collision on Old Middelburg Road
