Open cattle rail gate causes serious head injuries to pedestrian
An 11-year-old boy, Darrian Delport, sustained serious head injuries, after he was hit by the gate of a cattle rail mounted on a bakkie in Strubenvale last Monday afternoon.
Aatlje Goodrich, who was driving behind the bakkie, witnessed the accident which took place on the corner of Webber and Ermelo roads just after 3pm.
“I saw the boy was hit by something that looked like an iron structure and only later realised it was the gate of the cattle rail which hit the child,” she says.
She claims the driver of the bakkie stopped to close the rail gate and drove off without taking any notice of the injured boy.
Goodrich says a CPF member chased after the driver and both returned to the scene.
His parents were at work and, because Darrian was unconscious, a witness had to go through his school bag to find his mother’s contact number.
Emergency services and Strubenvale CPF arrived following reports of the accident.
Paramedics assessed the boy and found he had a cut to his right ear and sustained serious head injuries.
The boy’s parents, who had arrived on the scene, followed the ambulance to Far East Rand Hospital where he was admitted.
SAPS spokesperson, Capt Johannes Ramphora confirms the accident involving a bakkie fitted with cattle rails and a pedestrian.
“The driver faces charges of reckless and negligent driving,” he says.
Darrian’s father, Marko van der Berg (30) says he didn’t know what to expect when he saw his son.
“My wife Pauline (35) and I can only explain what happened from what witnesses have told us,” he says.
He needed stitches to his right ear and suffers from intracranial pressure (pressure on the brain) from the blow to his head.
Darrian’s parents claim when they visited him at FERH on Tuesday evening, they informed him the computerised tomography (CT) scan results are not available yet.
“I decided to discharge my son from FERH and took him to Life Springs Parkland Hospital where a CT-scan was done on Wednesday,” he says.
Results of the CT scan shows there is a minor fracture behind Darrian’s ear.
The couple is deeply humbled by Parkland’s offer to do a CT-scan free of charge.
“We are grateful to each and every person who supported us since the accident,” he says.
