A helmet saves a man’s life
Pieter had surgery to drain blood fluids out of his lungs before the finish line.
Pieter Avenant has been in and out of the hospital for weeks after a criterium race almost took his life on September 10.
He was in high spirits when the unexpected accident unfolded. According to his wife Jeanette Avenant, he was knocked off the road by an inexperienced cyclist – minutes after he got on his bike. He suffered eight broken ribs, a bruised right lung, three fractures on his pelvis, and a fractured collar bone.
“His helmet saved his life; no brain damage; no head injuries. When I received the feedback from Dr Figleson that he had no brain and spinal injuries I calmed down a lot. What made sense to me was hearing the doctor tell me he would recover fully over time,” said Jeanette.
She elaborated on how Pieter could not walk and only started walking four days after the accident. “The second traumatic part was when he went for surgery on day six after his accident. He had blood fluid in his lungs that had to be drained and he is also a chronic asthma patient, so having anesthetic was making me very nervous but he survived the operation and five out of the eight broken ribs got plated.”
Jeanette said the worst part was seeing it all unfold and driving behind the ambulance that had her husband in it. “We do not have children due to infertility on my side. My husband is all I have and that incident flashed before my eyes.”
The couple got married in March 2015 and has been happy ever since. “We have five beautiful children we adopted from the SPCA – two beautiful border collie dogs and three cats,” she added. “Leaving him at the hospital to go home and sleep by myself was the worst feeling ever.”
The family from Broadacres wants to thank everyone who helped them during this traumatic experience. “We would like to thank Pieter’s trauma surgeon who was on duty seven days a week and sacrificing time with his own family to attend to his patients. We also want to thank the nurses at the Sunninghill Trauma ICU, and the cycling community who reached out and visited Pieter in ICU, showering him with snacks, treats, and a lot of empathy. We also thank everyone who was sending messages of support through this difficult time.”
Pieter is doing very well. He is back at work and still recovering.
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