Family ‘hit hard’ by speed tragedy
ALL little Girisha Naidoo wants is to be able to run around the playground with her father again, and have him take her for her Saturday swimming lesson.
But the 3-year-old has been robbed of these simple pleasures because last year her father, Sugan Naidoo, a mechanic, was hit by a speeding vehicle, which crushed his legs.
Due to the extent of his injuries his right leg had to be amputated and his wife, Celise Ramnath, 32, a buyer at a logistics company, has been trying to get him a prosthetic limb.
Speaking about the ordeal, Naidoo, 42, said that on December 2, his life changed forever.
“It was about 11.30pm when I heard my wife’s phone ring. I was asleep in the lounge in front of the television as usual, so I got up and went to the bedroom to hear who was calling at that hour. It was one of my friends calling on my wife’s phone as my battery had died.
“His car had broken down on Atlas Road and he needed assistance. I told him I would be there in a few minutes and rushed to put on my overalls. When I got there, I saw my friend’s car parked at the bus stop and his brother parked behind him.”
Naidoo said he parked in front of his friend’s car so he could tow it as it was too late to do any repairs or even check what was wrong.
“I got the tow rope from my bakkie and sat on the floor to tie the rope between the car and the bakkie. Once it was done, I stood up and waited for my friends to move so I could get out from between the vehicles.”
He said they both stepped out towards the grass, preparing to leave, while he turned to throw the excess rope into the back of his bakkie. That was when a speeding driver slammed into all three vehicles, smashing him in between the last two.
“I instantly knew my legs were crushed. I hung on to the back of my bakkie screaming for my friends to help me. Within a few minutes the paramedics were on the scene.”
He said they assessed his injuries and that of the other driver.
“A helicopter took the driver to hospital, while I was rushed by ambulance to Glynnwood Life hospital in Benoni.”
This ordeal has left Ramnath emotionally drained as she is concerned about the well-being of her husband and she has become the breadwinner for the family.
“I arrived at the scene to find wreckage everywhere. They told me my husband was already in the ambulance and I was to follow them to Glynnwood hospital. With my sleeping 3-and-a-half-yearold daughter in my arms, we rushed to the hospital,” she said.
Doctors explained that the injuries were life-threatening and his legs had been severely crushed.
“I felt like my entire world had crumbled around me. As I looked at him lying in that bed in so much pain, I didn’t know what I would say to our baby girl. He was transferred to ICU and the doctors reiterated that it was still touch and go.
“Five days later we were hit with the devastating news that they could not save the right leg. The left leg had a broken femur, as well as a crushed fibula and tibia.”
Ramnath said the doctors managed to fix the femur, and the fibula and tibia were fastened with an external device.
“His recovery was slow but steady, and finally he was transferred to high care and then the orthopaedic ward. After 20 days in hospital he was allowed to come home. It was a major adjustment for both of us and an even bigger adjustment for our baby girl, as all she wanted was for him to run around with her outside.”
She said her husband’s recovery was going well until he picked up an infection in his left leg and had to readmitted last month.
Ramnath said her husband had since been discharged and was doing better.
“Even though he is doing better, this has hit our family hard – emotionally and financially.”
She said she was busy raising funds for her husband’s prosthetic leg, rehabilitation and other medical costs.