Hijack victim has heart attack
Driver suffering from PTSD, too scared to leave home after armed threat
Aman is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and his passenger has since had a heart attack after they were hijacked in Avoca last week.
Moments after father of two, Kelly Chetty, was killed in a botched hijacking last Thursday, the two men were accosted by the same suspects who had turned their gun on Chetty.
The 57-year-old La Lucia resident had been driving on Umhlangane Road with his 63-year-old friend from Avoca. The driver stopped his silver Yaris to meet another person near the vegetable stall where Chetty was accosted by three armed suspects.
Both refused to be named. Highly traumatised, the La Lucia man is no longer able to speak about his ordeal, said his son, who also asked not to be named.
The passenger suffered a heart attack this week.
“My father and his friend had been waiting near the stall when the suspects came to their car and pointed a gun at them, demanding they exit the car.
“The suspects pushed them around as they exited the vehicle, before driving away with my father’s car,” said the son.
SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker previously said that police spotted the stolen vehicle parked outside a hostel in Kwamashu the next day. Following a shoot-out, two suspects were killed while a third, a 31-year-old male was arrested at a clinic where he had sought medical attention.
“I had to drive my father and his friend to the crime scene in Kwamashu, on the same day, so they could identify the vehicle. The suspects’ bodies were at the scene and this further traumatised my father and his friend,” said the son.
“Dad is not the same person anymore. He’s quiet, and too scared to go out. He felt police needed to be more visible on the roads.”
The motorist’s friend refused to be interviewed.
Post-traumatic stress is not uncommon, said research psychologist Adele Munsami.
“Studies show that our brains rewire themselves following a traumatic experience. The fight or flight response becomes heightened and at times uncontrollable,” she said.
This type of reaction leads to anxiety and other kinds of stress, which is heightened due to flashbacks of the incident.
Munsami added: “In dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder one must identify and understand the trigger and put it into context, to decrease the perception of the threat.
“And seek counselling if the PTSD is leading to extreme anxiety.”