Shooting survivor reclaims her life
Doctors told her husband there was a slim chance she would survive.
Toti attorney Yolandi van der Watt (31) is slowly putting her life back together after she almost died in a shooting incident in Doonside in February.
Yolandi, who was handling a divorce case, arrived at Sunsands flats in Beach Road to accompany 62-year-old Belinda Els while she removed her clothing from the flat she shared with her estranged husband, Nicolaas Els (67).
On their arrival, Nicolaas went to the eighth-floor flat of his brother-in-law, Richard Northmore (60) and shot him in the left shoulder. Fortunately he survived the attack.
Els then ran down to the first floor where he shot and killed the caretaker of the block of flats and Yolandi's father Butch, as well as his own wife, before killing himself.
Yolandi was shot in the neck and back of the head at point blank range. She spent six weeks in St Augustine’s Hospital, two in ICU, and six weeks in rehab. Her initial diagnosis was so bleak, doctors told her husband David Robinson to prepare for the worst as there was a slim chance she would survive.
But survive she did. Doctors then told David she would be a blind paraplegic. “Not only can I see, but I regained the use of my arms and legs,” said the plucky survivor. “I can walk, write and type. Last week I got behind the wheel of a car and drove. I’m particularly proud of that,” said a chuffed Yolandi.
The shooting may have changed many things about her, but her sense of humour was not one of them.
“I don’t remember the shooting. I have complete amnesia up to about two weeks after the shooting. Doctors now say I will be a paralytic, which means my fine motor skills are impaired.”
Yolandi specialises in family law and divorces, and spends a lot of time in High Court. “When something this violent happens to you, you are naturally more cautious. But this is what I decided to do with my life and that hasn’t changed.
It hasn’t been an easy road. I didn’t know my dad had been killed, I only found out a week later. He was my best friend and my mentor and I have no doubt he died trying to save my life.
I have an absurd sense of calm about the whole incident and a renewed sense of appreciation. I’ve lived with immense pain for the last six months, but I’m alive and I get to see my children, who are three and one-years-old. I didn’t see my one-year-old for three months while I was in hospital and undergoing rehab. Our family relationship is slowly coming together again.
My mom went through a bad patch as she was initially told we had both died, but she now lives with us and is doing better.
I thank my brother Lourens and his wife Fiona, Eugene and Crystal Botes who looked after our children, Dr Oets' rooms that has been remarkable and lastly the Toti community whose support has been incredible.”
