Robber’s bite leads to finger loss and lawsuit
The memory of looking into the barrel of a gun will always haunt Aneme Malan. But the ordeal of being attacked as she pulled up to her home in the Centurion suburb of Pierre van Ryneveld in 2016 left her with another stark reminder — the loss of her ring finger.
She has now brought a R2m lawsuit against the emergency centre at Mediclinic Kloof, the hospital where she was treated after one of her attackers bit her finger in his haste to get her wedding ring off.
The painkillers prescribed as treatment had no effect, she stated in court papers, and eventually, after a year of treatment, the finger had to be amputated.
Malan, a deputy director-general in the department of tourism, suffers from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder due to the incident, and says she is embarrassed to tell people what happened to her.
“Looking into the barrel of a gun will always stay with me. However, one learns to adapt and seek the necessary assistance where needed.”
Recalling the day of the attack, she said: “I had just arrived from the mall when I saw a vehicle parking behind me. Two men got out of their car and I saw they were carrying a firearm. They demanded my wedding ring … before I could even respond one tried to bite my left ring finger off and ran to their car and sped off.
“Physically I lost my ring finger and part of the use of my left hand, and had to adapt to the way I do things. It also left me in constant pain in addition to the number of operations that followed.”
According to papers filed at the high court in Pretoria, Malan said the doctor on duty when she went for treatment cleaned the wound, had X-rays done and then discharged her with pain medication.
She returned to another hospital four days later on January 21 2016 with severe pain. The wound was cleaned and more painkillers prescribed.
She returned to hospital regularly, she stated in the court papers, and every time the wound would be cleaned and the course of painkillers extended. On March 15 2017 the decisionwas made to amputate the finger because of the infection.
Malan claims doctors failed to adequately monitor her condition to ensure she recovered from the injury and says the amputation was a direct consequence of the doctors’ negligent breach of legal duty.
Dr Francois du Toit, sole director of the company that owns the emergency centre and who is defending the lawsuit, referred all queries to his lawyer, Jan van der Westhuizen. Van der Westhuizen said they were opposing the claim, denying all liability on his client’s side.
“Our client denies being informed by Malan at any time during her treatment that she was bitten by one of her assailants,” Van der Westhuizen said.
As the matter is still to go to trial, he said, his client had opted not to comment any further.
Malan told the Sunday Times her wedding ring was very sentimental to her and could never be replaced.
“But now I amalso left without a finger, and sometimes I am embarrassed to tell people what happened to me.”
In her court papers she says she “endured severe shock, pain, suffering and discomfort and will continue to endure further pain and suffering and discomfort in the future”.
She is demanding R2m for past hospital, medical and related expenses, for future hospital, medical and related expenses, future loss of earnings and general damages.