Gesture of love for wounded Marli
SCHOOLMATES of Stellenbosch axe victim Marli van Breda have created a memory tree in her honour.
The lone Chinese hackberry tree, flanked by two ornate benches, stands in front of St Matthew’s Chapel — a church with close ties to Somerset College, where Marli is a Grade 11 pupil.
The trunk of the tree and most of its lower branches have been wrapped in a bright red ribbon, the 16-year-old’s favourite colour.
Meg Fargher, head of Somerset College, said pupils had wanted to do something special “to show Marli that she is thought of every day, and that they are praying for her to get better”.
“Her friends, classmates and supporters leave notes and cards tucked into the folds of the ribbon. At the end of each day these are sent to her in hospital,” she said.
A simple plaque has been placed on the tree, with the words: “Side by side, hand to hand, heart to heart.”
More than a month has passed since Marli suffered extensive head and neck injuries in a brutal attack by someone armed with an axe. One of her brothers and both parents were killed.
Another brother, Henri, aged 20, survived with light wounds which are alleged to have been self-inflicted.
Marli is under police guard in a private hospital in Stellenbosch, where not even family members are allowed to see her.
Family spokesman Ben Rootman said: “She is improving day by day, although she is still not talking.”