Stabbed DJ battles to walk again

POPULAR Keith Ngesi Radio (KNR) presenter and technical producer DJ Sizwe Siyokwana feared he may never walk again after being stabbed in an attack.

Siyokwana, 30, from Mdantsane is receiving medical treatment in Frere Hospital after he was stabbed by two criminals in his back during a robbery on Sunday evening.

“The doctors said I am lucky that the knife did not actually touch the spinal cord but only damaged the muscle tissue on my back,” he said yesterday.

But Siyokwana said the doctors are not sure when he would be discharged.

“They said it would depend on my full recovery – at the moment I can’t walk or stand.”

Siyokwana attends two sessions a day with a physiotherapist every morning and afternoon.

He was rushed to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital (CMH) on the evening of his attack, but doctors only sealed the wound and told him to return the next day, his boss, Keith Ngesi said.

It was only after the intervention of Ngesi, Frere Hospital manager Rolene Wagner and Dr Kenneth Harrison that he was rushed to the neurosurgery section of the hospital.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch Siyokwana said the two assailants attacked him after he had left a friend’s house.

“I saw immediately that they were robbers so I immediately offered them my two cellphones,” he said.

He then tried to flee but the two caught him.

Siyokwana said they also wanted his backpack which had a laptop, identity book, a charger, external drive and other belongings.

“They stabbed me with a sharp object which got stuck in my back and took the backpack as well.

“I felt the knife after I attempted to run but my feet wouldn’t move.”

Siyokwana said he removed the knife himself and tried walking home but collapsed a few metres before reaching the door.

His sister found him outside and rushed him to CMH. However, he was treated briefly and told to return on Wednesday.

Ngesi said: “When we took him to hospital he was crawling to the vehicle.”

Siyokwana said he had not opened a case yet as he had been in and out of hospitals.

He currently uses a walking ring to move around. His future prognosis was not clear at the time of writing.

Department of Health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said: “Our neurosurgeon believes the patient will be fine. The knives probably missed his spine and nerve roots. His prognosis is good.

“On the CMH allegations, I will have to study his file before commenting on it.” —