Double plunge at KZN waterfall
Husband and wife André and Mar-Louise are lucky to be alive after a terrifying waterfall double drama
SHE can’t remember much about the sequence of events – it all happened so fast it’s now just a blur. But there’s one thing she’ll never forget: the look of terror on her husband’s face as he slipped over the edge of the waterfall.
One minute André Pretorius (30) was taking photographs of the scenic Karkloof Falls in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, and the next he was falling. Without hesitation, his wife, Mar-Louise, ran to his rescue.
Racing forward, she tried to grab his hand – but in the process she went over the edge herself, hurtling down nine metres into the rocky waters. After that it’s all a blank.
“I can’t remember anything,” Mar-Louise (29) tells us. “That’s the last memory of that day. I can’t remember the fall, I can’t remember hitting anything, I can’t remember lying down there and I can’t remember being saved.”
When she regained consciousness in the ICU of Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg she was in bad shape – she’d landed on her face, fracturing her skull, collarbone and pelvis. Even now, weeks after her ordeal, her stitched scars run halfway across her forehead and under her left eye – a grim reminder of that terrible day.
André’s condition was even worse because he’d hit his head on his way down. In addition his ribs were fractured and his lungs were punctured. His spleen also had to be removed as a result of the accident.
When his wife was told the bad news she couldn’t quite imagine the severity of it all.
“Initially I said, okay, he has to be fine because his head is hard; he’s going to be fine,” she jokes.
It wasn’t until she saw him connected to a ventilator behind a glass-walled room in the ICU that she realised just how serious his injuries were was. For two weeks he was in a medically induced coma but even now that he’s regained consciousness she’s painfully aware a long road stretches ahead.
IT WAS their first visit to Karkloof Falls. Although they’d lived in Howick for two years they hadn’t yet visited the tourist attraction. They’d just attended an open day at a school to which they were hoping to send their son, Liam (3), when they received a text from a friend inviting them to an outing at the falls.
Mar-Louise, who’s since been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home, tells us they were looking forward to spending the rest of the day picnicking at the scenic spot.
André was appointed designated photographer for the day, she adds. He was capturing the last few moments of their outing using his wife’s phone.
The last photo he took was at 3.44pm. Just a few moments later he made an almost fatal error by wandering too close to the edge of the cliff.
Mar-Louise called out to warn him but it was too late.
“I remember him losing his balance and the fear in his eyes,” she says.
Then she sprang into action.
“Liam was sitting on one of my legs and I pushed him back to keep him away from danger.” After that it’s all a bit hazy. “I don’t know if I just jumped for him, but that’s my life. That’s my man,” she says, wiping away tears. “I don’t know what I did. I just wanted to hold my husband.”
Witnesses watched in horror as she ran forward and went over the cliff too.
Down she and her husband both went, landing in shallow water nine metres below. Luckily Rylan Everton (25) and his girlfriend, Corné Buys (21), were swimming nearby and came to their rescue, pulling them out of the water onto rocks while they waited for paramedics.
“Mar-Louise kept asking how André was,” Rylan recalls. “André wasn’t responsive but he moaned a lot and was obviously in a lot of pain.”
For a fortnight they were treated at Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg. But when Mar-Louise had recovered enough to be able to check her phone she saw the first medical bill – and asked to be transferred to a state hospital.
“It was for about R80 000, just for blood tests,” she says. “But I’m thankful because they did save our lives.”
Mar-Louise was moved to Grey’s Hospital and André to Northdale. Both are in Pietermaritzburg.
André was recently moved to the highcare unit for recovery and his wife was discharged from Grey’s. She’ll have to return later for another cosmetic surgical procedure to lift her left eye.
“It’s still painful but I’m mobile so I can manage,” she says. “I have friends and I can continue with a bit of my routine, but it’s hard without my husband and son,” she says, tears running down her cheeks.
While she and André convalesce, Liam is living with her parents, Ria (59) and Chris Schoeman (58), in Worcester in the Western Cape.
She visits André every day and says he’s making progress, although a psychologist warned her he might not be the same again considering how serious his injuries are.
He currently can’t talk, walk or eat on his own and needs a feeding tube. Although doctors still don’t have a clear idea of the extent of the damage to his brain, Mar-Louise finds it heartening that he’s becoming more responsive.
“Yesterday he could answer yes or no questions and the first question I asked him was do you love me, and he nodded yes,” she says.
In addition to the constant worry about André, another thing is causing Mar-Louise sleepless nights – their neverending medical bills. They owe more than R600 000 so far.
André works for a power company and Mar-Louise a relief teacher. Sadly they cancelled their medical aid shortly before the accident because they needed money to pay for their son’s speech and occupational therapy bills. Liam’s speech and cognitive development is delayed and they’ve been doing everything they can to help him.
But now without medical aid they’re sitting with a mountain of bills they have no idea how to pay.
Luckily a concerned friend, Kayleen Esterhuizen (29), rallied to their aid, starting a relief fund to help them. At the time of going to print R120 000 had been raised through direct donations, raffle tickets and the online fundraising platform BackaBuddy.
“My friends visit me constantly; my fridge is full of meals,” Mar-Louise says. “I’ve been in Howick for only two years but everyone’s thinking about me. I have amazing support from people from church and even those I don’t know.”
Despite everything she remains hopeful. “I felt so alone in the world and God showed me that I’m never alone,” she says. “I understand why we had to go through this – to appreciate life.”
‘I don’t know if I just jumped for him, but that’s my life. That’s my man’