Asthma attack ended life of missing SA man
Bahamas police and medics arrived on the scene but couldn’t save him
ONE JOBURG family’s fortnight of trauma is finally over, but it’s come with bad news. Family and friends who had been frantric trying to locate Shaun Beukes, received confirmation on Tuesday this week that the 34-year-old businessman had died of natural causes in the Bahamas two weeks ago.
South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) contacted the Shaun Beukes to confirm that he had died on the island. He had been on a business trip.
Beukes’s parents had reported their son missing after he missed his flight back to South Africa two weeks ago. According to Dirco, he died on Sunday, May 3.
It is understood the IT technician had collapsed after an asthma attack.
Family spokesman Greg Wells-Clifton told Saturday Star that no foul play was suspected.
“Shaun was waiting to board a ferry from Grand Bahama to Miami when he felt an extreme shortness of breath.”
“Being an asthma sufferer, he called the police and advised them of his condition.
“They immediately dispatched medics but he had collapsed.”
“He was taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport, where on his arrival he was declared deceased,” he said.
Wells-Clifton said it was assumed he suffered an asthma attack.
“A post-mortem was done to exclude any foul play, and the report reads that there was ‘no external trauma to the body’,” he said.
Beukes’s disappearance was reported to the Norwood police station a few weeks ago and the family also distributed posters describing Beukes’s appearance, details of when he had last been seen and asking for people to contact them if they had any information on his whereabouts.
Wells-Clifton added that his family has been left devastated.
Beukes, who hailed from Bryanston, is survived by his parents and two sisters.
“They are trying to be brave at this time. Of course they are broken. This is a close-knit and loving family.”
Wells-Clifton described Beukes as a gregarious, funloving, highly intelligent, compassionate and caring extrovert.
“Shaun would walk into a venue alone, and leave with 10 new friends.
“And I mean friends, not acquaintances. People were al- ways drawn to him due to his very nature.
“This was a vibrant man, a gentle giant. I am, and am sure all who knew and loved him are, comforted that his life did not end in any sinister way,” he said.
The Beukes family are in communication with Dirco to arrange the repatriation of the body from the Bahamas.