- Ty Portway, a matric pupil from Longacres Private School in Langebaan, is recovering at home after a near-fatal motorcycle accident on 30 May.
- The accident happened on the notorious Bogey Bend.
- He suffered severe injuries in the accident, including multiple fractures and significant blood loss.
A matric pupil from Longacres Private School in Langebaan is recovering at home after a near-fatal accident on his motorcycle last Thursday, 30 May.
In January 2023, after working through the December 2022 holiday to save enough money, Ty Portway (17) from Langebaan, bought his first motorcycle, a blue and white Honda CBR 125 cc.
His mother, Ricky Portway, told Weslander he had been riding off-road bikes since he was small. As parents, she and husband Bradley thought they could delay Ty’s owning a bike by insisting that he get his learner’s licence first. But he obtained it a week after turning 16.
His parents then thought buying his first motorcycle would also take time, but he put his head down and worked hard, saving enough money to buy his first motorcycle four months later.
Ty grew up with bikes, with Bradley taking part in Enduro and later on riding adventure bikes. “It was inevitable that Ty would get a bike. We tried to delay it, but he made it happen.”
Ricky said Ty has driven around the notorious bend in Bogey Boulevard so many times, but unfortunately this time was different. He was on his way home from a bike ride, and as he approached the bend realised that he and the approaching vehicle were not going to fit through the corner at the same time. He applied brakes which made him loose control of the bike and he was hit by the bakkie.
Literally flew through the air
Ricky said Ty just remembered flying through the air and landing on the ground. After the accident, he called his parents who, on arriving at the scene, were naturally frightened about the state he was in as they could see that his leg was badly broken.
Ty broke his nose and femur, tibia and fibula on his left leg, with one bone protruding from the skin and causing a gaping wound which caused severe blood loss. “He knows how close he came to death,” his mother said.
Personnel from West Coast Medical Rescue treated him on the scene. From Vredenburg Provincial Hospital, the ambulance personnel took him to New Somerset Hospital where the doctors fought for three hours to stabilise Ty to stop the bleeding. Ricky said: “He was in excruciating pain and lost so much blood that on arrival at the hospital he was in haemorrhagic shock. At first they could not find a pulse in his foot. If it was not for all of them he would not be here today.”
Ty’s leg was operated on Thursday night and fixed with pins and bolts. He will be wearing a brace on his leg for four weeks and for the next three months, get physiotherapy.
Ty has been recovering at home since Monday afternoon, but he got quite a shock, Ricky said. “He is doing as well as can be expected. Emotionally he was traumatised.”
Ty told his mother he never wanted to experience that type of pain again, ever. “He said one day he might ride again, but not for a long time.”
Touches people everywhere he goes
The Portways were overwhelmed by the number of messages of concern Ty had received. “We’ve been in Langebaan for nearly three years, yet we have realised everywhere my son goes he touches people without our even having realising it.”
Ty, who was head boy at primary school in Sedgefield, will be able to attend classes again when schools reopen after the holidays.
Edmund Barkhuysen, headmaster of Longacres, described him as a very enthusiastic young man with a big passion for hockey and socialising with his friends. “During the Mr and Miss LAPS event in May it was pretty self-evident that the learners loved him, that he was one of the crowd favourites.”
Ty has been in the first hockey team since starting at the school two years ago. “He will stay in the Longacres Private School’s prayers until he has fully recovered,” Barkhuysen said. “We wish him all the best with the long recovery, and we can’t wait to have him and his bubbly personality back at school.”
Capt Tania Helfrich, spokesperson for the West Coast police district, said a case of reckless and negligent driving was being investigated.
