A FUNDRAISING page has been set up to raise money for local barista, George Baruti (23), who was seriously injured after being knocked over by a car in Bulwer Road on Sunday morning, 30 September.
Max Pienaar, owner of Savior Cafe in Bulwer Road where George had worked for a year, said he, together with support from the local community, was doing all he could to help raise money to help George financially after the shocking incident
“George is a cool guy and is very close to our hearts. The affect he has on people around him is amazing,” he said, which is evident from the response to the BackaBuddy page he set up the day after the accident.
Pienaar explained that George had been on the pavement outside talking to waiters at the cafe when a woman driving at high speed down the road at 7am on 30 September lost control of her vehicle.
She hit a Telkom box on the pavement, knocking it clean out of the ground, and then hit George, who was flung about 18m before landing on the pavement face down.
The woman’s car landed on its roof.
“My staff witnessed the accident and this lead to hardcore trauma. I arrived and everyone was gathered around George.”
“Motoristshad stopped to help and the community converged on the scene and had called ambulances. George went into King Edward Hospital where the trauma unit was amazing. His teeth were embedded in his chin and his lips were cut. He had a fractured shoulder and scapula and broken nose. He was stabilised and discharged on the following Tuesday afternoon with Panado for the pain.”
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He said this showed the disparity between government and private healthcare as moving George out of hospital so soon after the accident was a trauma in itself.
He said the process of healing and recovery for George’s scapula and shoulder would take a minimum of six weeks.
“We don’t know the ramifications of the accident yet. He was unconscious for up to 15 minutes. Once the swelling in his face has gone down we will be able to get him to a specialist to have a better look at him.”
“He will need trauma counselling and dental surgery. Everyone has been awesome but now the hard yards start.”
“He is in a lot of pain and I took him stronger pain killers today. He is just lying on his bed trying to move as little as possible,” he said.
Pienaar set up the fundraising page the day after George’s accident, and by Friday R17 000 had been raised from people George interacted with in the community and from Max’s friends overseas.
Max said he had set a budget of R50 000 but the amount needed would only been known once George had been assessed.
“There has definitely been God’s abundance in this story. Within an hour of the accident there were 300 people in prayer groups around the city praying for him. We want more coverage as this man is amazing. We just appeal to people’s compassion to help with donations,” he said.
According to Pienaary, George is the fourth pedestrian to be hit by a car in Bulwer Road in the 18 months he had been in business Bulwer Road. He said a Glenwood Prep learner had been hit a year ago and within the first two weeks of opening his business two people had been knocked over.
“We want something done about this road to stop speeding. There are school children crossing and there is no lollypop man. We want people to be aware and for the council to put in speed bumps to curb the speeding. In this case, the police opened a case of reckless and negligent driving against the woman. This is a 60km zone. But right now, more than this, my concern is for George and getting support behind him,” he said.
The community can support George by making a donation via: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/reconstructing-george-baruti
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