Suicidal man rescued twice from hospital roofs
In an extraordinary series of events, the man who was rescued off the roof at Kabokweni's Themba Hospital on Friday evening also managed to escape from a ward at the psychiatric unit of Rob Ferreira Hospital on Saturday.
MBOMBELA – The man, who was not a patient at Themba, first caused a stir on Thursday afternoon after he was spotted by a passerby on the roof of one of the institution’s tallest buildings.
SAPS spokesman, Capt Phillip Fakude, said the 24-year-old man claimed he wanted to commit suicide. He added that the man’s aunt, cousins and grandfather alleged that he was under the influence of drugs.
“The family members were talking about dagga and nyaope,” he said.
Friday’s events
On Friday evening, after more than 30 hours of negotiation and attempts to get the man down from the roof, the SAPS Tactical Response Unit (TRT) executed a successful operation.
According to Capt Pieter Smit, at approximately 23:15 the TRT and two negotiators were able to secure the man with handcuffs and cable ties around his ankles.
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The police helicopter then hovered on the roof and the man was put on board and brought back to ground level.
Smit said he was taken to a Themba Hospital ward. From there, he was transferred to Rob Ferreira Hospital’s psychiatric unit on Saturday.
Saturday’s events
According to department of health spokesman, Mr Dumisani Malamule, the man was not viewed as a threat.
Smit was at Rob Ferreira and said that the man climbed the water tower on Saturday evening. According to him, the man come down voluntarily.
Malamule’s version of events differs. “At around 19:00, the man (got) out of the bed and escaped through a door which is used as an entrance to the courtyard where psychiatric patients stretch their legs. The man was immediately spotted by security guards, who gave chase,” Malamule said in a media statement.
Once on top of the roof of the hospital, the man threatened to commit suicide by jumping off, but security guards managed to pounce on him before he could jump.
“He was immediately put in a seclusion room and is currently undergoing psychiatric treatment. He will be kept in the hospital until he is mentally stable,” the statement read.
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Fakude said hospital staff wanted to take the man to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital.
Malamule said the police were not at liberty to comment on the man’s treatment. At the time of going to press, he had not confirmed whether the patient remained in Rob Ferreira Hospital.
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