Young man found critically injured identified from photo in The Herald
A YOUNG man found critically injured next to a Uitenhage road following a suspected hit-andrun accident, has been identified.
Sive Vukaphi, 19, had gone missing after being discharged from Dora Nginza Hospital on June 13, Livingstone Hospital social worker Nelisa Siwisa said.
He had been receiving treatment for drug addiction.
She said Vukaphi’s family had rushed to his hospital bedside after one of his mother’s friends recognised him from a photograph published in The Herald on Tuesday.
“His mom said her friend had come running with the newspaper, saying her son was in the paper. She then phoned me,” Siwisa said.
“They arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning.
“They were distraught. His mom thought he was with [his] grandmother, and the grandmother thought he was with [his] mom.”
She said tracing his movements all the family knew was that he had last been seen, uninjured, when he went to sleep at his grandmother’s house in Joe Slovo.
He had spent June 13 and 14 at his grandmother’s house.
On the morning of June 15, an Eastern Cape Department of Health ambulance had taken him from the side of the road to hospital.
It appeared he had been hit by a vehicle.
Nelson Mandela Bay emergency medical services head Brenhan Metune said Vukaphi had severe head and facial injuries.
Siwisa said he was in a critical state in the intensive care unit.