A MAN, who was hit in the face by a rock thrown at his vehicle while driving on the M7 near Southway Mall in Rossburgh, is hopeful his eye will recover fully after his ordeal.
Lambert Van Groeningen, who received a call out late on Saturday, 3 October, was travelling down the M7 east bound when, shortly after the controlled intersection at Titren Road, a man ran up to his car and flung a rock at his window.
ALSO READ: Beware of fraudsters outside testing centre, warns Rossburgh’s station commander
Van Groeningen’s son-in-law, Brandon Gaia, confirmed what his wife, Van Groeingen’s daughter, Nicole Gaia, shared on Facebook.
“My dad received a call out for work late last night. On his way, just after Southway Mall, someone threw a rock at his car.”
” It went through the driver side window and hit his face. By some miracle, probably from shock, he managed to keep control of the car and make his way to the nearest Engen Garage,” said Nicole Gaia.
Attack
Brandon, speaking to the Queensburgh News on Wednesday said that his father-in-law was saved from further injury because he wasn’t looking in the direction the attack came from.
“He was luckily looking forward when the rock hit him,” said Brandon.
“Moments before, he had been looking to the right, if he had been looking towards the attacker the injuries might have been far worse.”
Brandon said his father-in-law, an examiner, had been called out 10 minutes before midnight by his work.
The attack took place shortly after midnight while he was enroute to work.
ALSO READ: Did you know all police stations must accept crime reports?
After being hit by the rock, he managed to continue driving until he pulled over at the Engen Garage further down the M7.
Care and help
“The amazing employees at the garage were kind enough to help him and call the police,” said Nicole explaining that her father was able to make a phone call to report to his family what had taken place, after which her husband and brother headed to the garage.
Justin Van Groeningen and Brandon went to assist after receiving the call.
“On their way there, they saw plenty rocks on the freeway where it happened and another car stopped on the side of the road with hazards on, also probably from being hit,” explained Nicole.
“We cannot say enough about how helpful the staff at the garage were, they really are the heroes in this situation,” said Brandon.
Police
Brandon expressed dismay at the attitude of police who came to the garage following the incident.
Unfortunately he didn’t notice which police station they had come from.
“When the police arrived, they had no interest of actually helping and told my dad that if he wants to make a statement, he must go to the police station,” said Nicole in her Facebook post.
After not being assisted by the patrollers who attended at the garage, the family managed to register a case at Umbilo SAPS and according to Brandon the officers were very helpful and are investigating the incident.
Smash-and-grab
Brandon said his father-in-law had been driving a brand new VW Polo Vivo Comfortline which he had only taken ownership of less than a month ago.
“Thank heavens the windows were protected by smash-and-grab film,” said Brandon.
Despite this Van Groeningen still needed to have his eye flushed at the hospital’s trauma unit and follow up with an ophthalmologist.
“My eye was so swollen, they had to wait until the next day for the doctor to check it,” said Van Groeningen.
“The doctor said she is hoping it will recover fully, and I have been given the go ahead to return to work on light duty, but I have to go for a follow-up in a month.”
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
