‘Soldier on’ mom hears

POLOKWANE – Lene-Mari Grobler (28) cannot remember the accident that changed her life irrevocably on Friday, March 20.

Speaking from her hospital bed at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital, she says the last thing she remembers is coming home from work and getting a lift with a friend on the back of her scooter.

She has a broken pelvis, hip and coccyx, injuries to her left shoulder and shoulder blade, is still suffering from internal bleeding, and worst of all for her, her left foot had to be amputated. The friend who was driving the scooter walked away unscathed.

In spite of the excruciating pain she has, she is still able to welcome friends and family who visit her with a brave smile, which brings tears to their eyes.

Her loved ones say they are extremely worried over her state of mind, as the fact that she will have to live without her left foot has not yet sunk in.

“I don’t know how she can still smile when she is in so much pain. She tries to be so strong, but we see the tears behind that smile and we know that recuperation from her eight-hour operation is only the beginning for her,” a close friend who did not wish to be named, told Review.

Grobler underwent an eight-hour operation on Tuesday during which her hip and pelvis were repaired.

Because she lost a lot of blood and her blood pressure dropped severely, the team could not complete the repair of her broken coccyx or attend to the damage to her left shoulder and shoulder blade. When she is more stable more operations will follow.

Grobler says she really misses her five-year-old son, Brendon. When he visited her earlier, he brought along one of his prized possessions; a little toy soldier. He tucked it up in bed with his mother and told her the soldier would look after her while she rested in hospital.

Her son has not been told yet that his mother has lost a foot, and she only plans to tell him when she is better.

Forensic accident reconstruction specialist, Phillip Smit, said the accident seemed to be as a result of high speed and negligence. According to his report, the vehicle involved in the accident was making its way along Marshall Street from De Wet Drive and was approaching a traffic light that was orange and about to turn red. In an effort to try and cross the intersection before the traffic light turned red, the vehicle collided with the scooter that was entering the intersection as the light had already turned green.

Smit said in his opinion, the cause of most accidents was reckless driving, and in many cases blatant ignorance by drivers who would rather speed through a traffic light than wait a few minutes.

“Road safety must be brought back into schools in a big way, where children are taught that safety is their responsibility. When children are taught from a very young age what the dangers are and what the correct procedures are, lives will be saved in future,” Smit said.

Grobler’s mother, Sarie Korff, said she would like to thank the medical team for their tireless work during the long operation and the doctors that kept her up to date during the operation.

A bank account was opened by Grobler’s brother, Willem Bronkhorst, that can be used by anyone who would like to make a contribution to assist Grobler financially, as she will be without an income and her recovery will take some time.

The bank account details are as follows: W du Plessis, Absa, account number 9305661685.

Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala said a case of reckless and negligent driving was being investigated and no arrests had been made.