Family needs help after father falls from roof
The father of a four year old son landed on the back of his head.
By Elzaan Pienaar
Renier Moolman urgently needs the help of the community after he fell from his house’s roof on Friday, March 18.
The father of a four-year-old son landed on the back of his head. According to his wife, Angie, she just heard a loud crash of glass. Renier was on the roof with a builder who came to give them a quote.
After the incident, Angie phoned emergency services, and officers from Mamba Security were immediately on the scene. “Everyone tried to help us,” Angie said.
Renier was transported to the Netcare Union Hospital in Alberton from his home in Edenvale. The family were told that he had sustained major injuries to his brain and lungs. The doctor also said that he could suffer permanent brain damage. He has frontal lobe damage, temporal lobe damage, occipital lobe damage, contusions on his brain, and contusions on his lungs, a dislocated jaw, a baseline fracture of the skull as well as fractures on the left side of his head. They placed him in an induced coma.
During this time the hospital advised the family that their medical aid was not going to authorise anything or any payment. Their payment for their medical aid was three days late.
“I begged them to allow me to make a payment there and then. I even offered to pay two or five instalments, whatever amount they wanted from us, just to show them good faith on our side. They would not budge and they just did not care,” she said.
Renier is in ICU on ventilation and is being treated by his trauma doctor, a neurosurgeon, a physician, a physiotherapist and a dietician. Angie told the NEWS‘ sister publication, Alberton Record that she has paid a large amount of money over the weekend, but the bills are increasing daily. His progress is very slow and as the doctors and sisters have told the Moolmans, every brain injury is different. There are issues now with his kidneys which his neurosurgeon has put down to the trauma to his brain. New developments and complications arise as the days go on. “The future for us looks very bleak as Renier is self-employed. If he does not work he does not make money. The bills he pays will not get paid and we could end up losing our home.”
“To see such a big, strong man lying in a hospital bed with tubes and pipes everywhere is heartbreaking. He looks so helpless,” said an emotional Angie.
People who want to help the family can contact Frankie Mc Kechnie (Renier’s mother in law) on 082 886 8325.
