What was meant to be a time when cousins bond with their grandparents over the festive season, quickly turned into a nightmare after an 18-year-old was declared paralysed from the waist down, following a swimming incident.
SW Venter (18), from Paarl, who recently matriculated from the Drostdy Technical High School, had been visiting his grandparents in Onrus, when tragedy struck on Sunday 2 January.
According to his mother, Johanna Venter, her son dived through a wave into a sandbank and sustained severe injuries to his spinal cord.
She said that two men, who had seen him dive through the waves, noticed the young man lying in the water and rushed to assist him.
Venter said that someone on the beach who had medical experience also came to assist her son while they waited for the ambulance.
“He was later transferred from Hermanus Medi-Clinic to Vergelegen Medi-Clinic in Somerset West, where doctors informed us that there was a burst fracture to his C-6 vertebra and that he would be paralysed from the waist down,” Venter explains.
On Monday 3 January an operation to repair the C-6 vertebra was performed on him. The young man was in ICU until yesterday and today (Thursday 13 January) he will travel to Stellenbosch Spescare for rehabilitation.
“He has no feeling yet, but he can move his hands slightly.”
Shock and anxiety overwhelmed the Venter family as they tried to make sense of the news.
According to his mother, who was in Paarl due to work commitments, the trip to Somerset West was the longest 30 minutes of her life.
Johanna says that prayer and faith have been the family’s saving grace this last week and that they have faith that SW will make a full recovery.
Asked about how SW received the news, his mother says: “He was frustrated in the beginning because he could not do anything for himself, but since then, his mindset has changed. He is positive and in good spirits.”
According to his mother, he works hard to achieve his goals and believes that one day he will be fine.
“Oh, and he smiles a lot,” she adds.
A Facebook Page, titled “Bid vir SW”, has gained much traction across the social media platform and his parents use it to provide daily updates on his progress.
“The prayers and words of encouragement posted to the group also keeps us going,” Johanna said.
The accident happened ahead of the much anticipated matric results.
Had it not been for the accident, SW would have started an internship at an engineering company on 1 February.
“The company let us know that they would keep his place open until he is ready to start working,” his mother added.
