Bride's mom dies after wedding

2004-11-29 08:45

Llewellyn Prince

Cape Town - A bride from Malmesbury's wedding day took a tragic turn on Saturday when her mother died after a car crash that took place on the way to the official photo session.

Elizabeth Nietskie, foster child of Lea Arries, 62, from West Bank, said the wedding procession left the church in West Bank just after 17:00 for the gardens in the Malmesbury town centre.

Arries's daughter, Katriena April and her new husband, Bert, wanted to have their official wedding photos taken in the gardens.

Arries and three other people were travelling in one of the cars in the procession.

Nietskie said the car in which Arries travelled must have turned off because they suddenly disappeared. "We later found out that she had turned back to pick up flowers from the church," Nietskie said.

At the gardens, the newlyweds and the rest of the family waited and waited for Arries.

Eventually they received a cellphone call informing them that the car in which Arries had been travelling had been involved in an accident on Main Road.

Reception cancelled

"We rushed to the scene of the accident. My mom was already in a coma and had to be cut from the wreckage. She was rushed to Swartland Hospital, where she died shortly before midnight on Saturday," Nietskie said.

Samuel Arendse, the driver of the car, was transferred to a hospital in Paarl.

The other two passengers were not injured. The nature of the injuries of the passengers of the other car that was involved in the crash is not yet known.

The shocked bride and groom were at Arries's bedside at the hospital with the rest of the family.

Nietskie said the wedding reception and photo session were cancelled after the accident.

"The guests at the reception ate the food that had been prepared, but the rest of the proceedings were cancelled," she said.

- Die Burger