ALBERTON – Forrest Hill resident, Marionette Swab, is in an induced coma after she was also struck on the head by a brick while travelling along the N12.
A second vehicle was attacked on the N12, following an earlier incident in which a young boy was also struck by a brick.
A man, who was standing on the side of the highway, appeared to be targeting vehicles travelling on the road in what seems to be a senseless attack.
Darrel Badenhorst who was driving the vehicle, described the suspect as slightly older and thin.
The attacker threw a brick and it hit Marionette on the left side of her head. Marionette was sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle. Darrel, who was driving, said he saw the man pick up a brick and was about to throw it. He tried to swerve out of the way, but was too late.
Darrel then reversed to face the attacker but then realised his girlfriend needed medical attention. He tried to phone both the police and emergency services but, according to him, the signal was bad and he was unable to get through to either one.
He knew he had to get Marionette to a hospital and proceeded to drive on. About 2km further on, he saw an ambulance assisting the Slabbert family and also stopped for medical attention.
He mentioned to the paramedics that he could not phone anyone; the paramedics said they had already reported the incident to the SAPS.
According to Darrel, the paramedics were busy for at least two hours and in that time no police officers arrived.
Marionette will undergo a brain scan tomorrow and then doctors will decide on the best way to move forward; at this stage she is still in an induced coma.
Darrel, who is now frustrated with the different possible outcomes, wonders why there are not more SOS phones on the side of the roads. He feels that with the lack of these phones, which motorists used to see everywhere on the road, it should be a given that you at least have signal on national roads to contact someone in case of an emergency.
