More damage discovered after accident with EMPD officer
It was noticed that her brain had started to swell and that she is already 70 per cent blind
REFERRING to last week’s article on page three titled “EMPD officer ruined my life”, the RECORD received an update bearing even more bad news about Natalie van Heerden’s suffering caused by the accident.
Read the original article: Woman claims EMPD officer causes accident and ruins her life
Natalie van Heerden’s (36) life took a 360-degree turn on February 16 on Swartkoppies Road, opposite the EMPD offices. Soon after Natalie stopped to turn into Michelle Avenue towards Alberton, an EMPD officer was not paying attention and crashed into the rear of Natalie’s car at full speed.
Before the accident took place, Natalie used to be an avid bodybuilder, personal trainer and kickboxing, wall-climbing and aerobics enthusiast. However, after the accident, she found out that her car had to be written off and, even worse, she was told by her doctors that her spine was damaged to the extent that she would never be able to lift weights or do physical training again.
Natalie went from a vibrant young woman who loved life and people, to a woman who felt that she had lost her dignity, purpose and the will to go on. She was broken.
More bad news
To make matters even worse, Michelle Jacobs, Natalie’s soon-to-be daughter-in-law, gave the RECORD an update on Natalie’s condition and it’s not positive news at all.
According to Michelle, Natalie started complaining that her vision is blurry and that she sees shapes. On Tuesday, August 7, she went to get her eyes checked because she thought she might have to have her spectacles replaced.
“However, after the eye test, Natalie was immediately booked into the Roseacres Hospital, because it was noticed that her brain had started swelling and that she is 70 per cent blind already.
“On Wednesday night, Natalie was booked into the hospital and after the doctor did a CT scan, she declared that the swelling on Natalie’s brain had been caused by the impact of the car accident caused by the EMPD officer. This swelling had also been the reason her legs often suddenly gave in while she walked like it did when she went to do grocery shopping a few times,” Michelle told the RECORD.
Natalie immediately had to undergo an urgent lumbar puncture to drain the fluids from her brain. She is now required to stay in bed in a dark room, and to be completely still for a few weeks.
“If my mother-in-law did not go for that eye test, she likely would have woken up completely blind and nobody would have been able to help her,” said Michelle.
“We are all extremely unhappy because on the day of the accident that she went to the hospital, none of those doctors picked up this problem. It just shows that, because of this accident, my mother-in-law almost lost her eyesight completely because that officer did not look where she was driving,” Michelle added.
THE RECORD approached the EMPD for comment, but none was received before publishing.
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