A regular family braai turned into a nightmare on Saturday, 18 May, when a fire exploded and two people, one a teenager, were seriously injured.
For Kyla Steyn, the image of her brother and her fiancè fighting for their lives is something she is battling to comprehend.
Her fiancè, Marius Mathee, sustained burn wounds over 48 per cent of his body. His vocal cords, one of his eyes, throat, neck, arms and hands were the worst affected.
Her 14-year-old brother, Jaco Badenhorst, sustained burn wounds over 45 per cent of his body. His face, arms and a part of his chest and leg were burnt.
Marius is in a stable condition in a private hospital and is receiving the best possible care, but Jaco’s situation is bleaker. He is currently in the burn unit at Leratong Hospital and doctors will decide today if he will be transferred to another hospital or not.
Jaco, a learner from Hoërskool Noordheuwel, needs urgent medical care. The family wants him to receive the same care as Marius, who has a hospital plan, but for that they need funds. With R150 000, they can transfer him to Milpark Hospital, otherwise he might be moved to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital’s burn unit.
Kyla explained what happened, saying it was a typical Saturday evening with friends and family, braaing and watching rugby.
“We were babysitting my brother and sister, as my mother was away for the weekend.”
They invited three friends over and watched some rugby. Marius started a fire to braai for them and just after 7.30pm they were done and everyone had eaten.
“I decided that I should take my daughter, who was sitting outside with them, to bed,” Kyla explained.
She took her daughter, Bella, to bed and was gone about 20 minutes. She then went outside and asked one of her friends to join her in the kitchen where they made coffee.
“On our way back to the braai area, I saw Marius busy stacking wood to make a fire. He lit a firelighter to put in between the wood,” she said.
“The owners of the house have a fuel injector, the type used in racing cars. This was apparently in the bar, although I did not know that it was there,” she explained.
“It looks like someone moved the injector bottle closer to the braai or opened it to see what it was and did not close it again properly. The contents started evaporating and fumes filled the air.”
As Marius turned to light the firelighter, everything caught fire. Jaco and Marius was standing closest to the braai in the fumes, so they caught fire as well.
“My brother fell to the ground, and when he stood up he went into shock and did not know what to do. One of my friends then threw him into the swimming pool,” she explained.
Marius sat on the couch in the bar, trying to take off his shirt, but the couch caught fire as well. Luckily he had jeans on and this protected his legs from the flames. When he could not get his shirt off, he ran outside.
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“One of my friends tried to kick him into the swimming pool and he screamed, “No”, and tried to back away, but my friend kicked him again and he fell into the pool.”
One of their friends, Dylan Blom, was also treated in hospital for two days. He went to help them and inhaled some of the fumes. He had been released from hospital and luckily did not sustain permanent damage.
“It is a picture I never want to see in my life ever again. You feel helpless. You don’t know how to help them. I went into shock and it felt as if my world was being torn apart. If it wasn’t for my friends who reacted the way they did, they would have been hurt worse, because I would not have been able to deal with the situation,” a tearful Kyla said.
Both victims are on ventilators and are comatose. The plan is to keep Marius in an induced coma for a week.
After they both got out of the swimming pool they were in a lot of pain, but were talking to the people around them.
“My brother had a panic attack indoors, but I tried to keep him calm. Marius was talking to me, but he was screaming from all the pain,” she said.
“My friend took them to Leratong Hospital. When they got there, they had to wait an hour for pain medication, and my brother was in the casualty ward until last night before they moved him to the burn unit.”
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They have received some donations but still need a lot of money to get Marius and Jaco the care they need.
How can you help?
If you would like to help this family by donating anything, please contact Kyla on 082 466 1730.
The News will keep readers updated on this developing story.
