UPDATE: Nicolas Verwey, the security guard that was severely assaulted during the Kirkwood riots in April this year, passed away yesterday morning, June 16. The news was confirmed to “Express” by his life partner, Juanie Lee. PE Express wrote about his traumatic brain injury on June 1.
There was a day last week when she saw him in his hospital bed and thought that this was it: her fiancé was going to do die. There was no way that he was going to survive the day.
This is the fear that Juanie Lee has been living with every day for the past month since her life partner of almost 10 years was severely assaulted while working as a casual security guard during the recent Kirkwood protests.
The small community was rocked by violent protests on April 25, when citrus workers took to the streets, burning tyres, blocking roads and assaulting people.
One person died and unfortunately for Nicolas Verwey, he was caught in the crossfire and is still fighting for his life at Livingstone Hospital in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“On Friday last week, his condition still looked very serious. He slept most of the time and when I got there on Friday afternoon, I actually thought: What’s going on now? How is this going to end? I really thought that he probably wasn’t going to make it,” Lee said.
She explained that the day of the protests, Nic, as she lovingly refers to him, was ambushed by a group of rioters, dragged from his vehicle, severely beaten and the vehicle was set alight.
“I heard from the guy who helped him that they stoned Nic as in the times of the Bible. I struggle to sleep at night and wake up early in the morning with all these thoughts in my head and I just can’t fathom how people could do this to another person.
“I cannot wrap my head around the way people think and how they feel about their fellow human beings.
“Just like Nic, I have my good days and bad days and I can’t even express how this makes me feel. It’s so stressful and I can’t even describe in words how this situation makes me feel. I’m struggling with all of this. There was a time when I couldn’t even see Nic if I didn’t have something to calm me down,” she said.
Verwey had to undergo two operations on his brain in one week. The beating caused bleeding on and around his brain and it had swollen to the extent that his skull couldn’t be fitted back into position after the second operation, so that part is still fragile.
With the second brain operation, doctors removed a blood clot from a very delicate part of the brain, which caused the blood to circulate normally again.
Lee explained that Verwey will need speech therapy because he can’t speak properly, as well as physiotherapy treatment to be mobile again.
“He will need to be rehabilitated and receive therapy for his mental health in order for him to cope and deal with what happened to him.
“Doctors cannot say at this time what the full extent of the damage is but the chances that he will ever be able to work again are slim. If he can, it will take a long time to get to that point in his life.
“He’s a grown man with the mind of a baby at this stage,” Lee added.
She said that, according to the doctors, Verwey’s condition actually improved much quicker than they had expected but the wound at the top of his head had turned into a bedsore and developed an infection.
He can’t stand up and doctors have no idea how long his recovery will take.
To make matters worse, the fact that Verwey was not permanently employed means that he cannot claim from the company’s insurance and the family is waiting to see if an injury on duty (IOD) claim can be made.
In the meantime, Lee is concerned about how she’ll be able to take care of him on her own. He also doesn’t have a medical aid and she has no idea how she’ll be able to afford his therapy.
“I really wanted to place him in a care facility so that he could get the best care that he deserves and at least become more mobile before he comes home but there is no money for that. The state doesn’t cover that so it’ll have to come from our pockets. I also don’t have the funds to appoint a caretaker to help me to take care of him.”
As a means of seeking help, Lee has started a BackaBuddy campaign to help raise funds for Verwey and his medical expenses.
Anyone who would like to help with his recovery process can visit his BackaBuddy page: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/nicolas-verwey.
