Teen saves father's life

2003-02-02 21:58

Eagan Williamson

Pretoria - The swift action of a 19-year-old girl probably saved her father's life after robbers had left him for dead in his house in Donkerhoek outside Pretoria.

Four robbers overpowered and seriously assaulted Willem Erwee, 44, shortly before midnight on Saturday. He had just arrived home.

If it weren't for Erwee's daughter, Sune, 19, who planned to spend the night with a friend and then decided to go home, he would probably have died of his wounds.

Erwee spent the evening at a pub with friends and went straight to his bedroom when he returned home. As he was getting ready to go to bed, he spotted two men from the corner of his eye.

"At that stage, there were already two other men behind me," he said.

The men had gained entry through a sliding door and were waiting for him inside.

A scuffle broke out and the four men attacked Erwee with a piece of iron.

His face was scarred badly and he had to get 120 stitches to a wound at the back of his head.

"They kept hitting me and I lost consciousness. I do not know how long I was unconscious before my daughter arrived," he said.

The robbers made off with Erwee's bakkie and other possessions and left him for dead.

Sune arrived at the house at about 02:00, found her father in a pool of blood in the bedroom. An electrical cord was tied around his neck.

She immediately called the neighbours.

"When we arrived there, there was blood everywhere," Louis Klein, a neighbour, said.

They called the police and farm commandos and Erwee was taken to hospital.

Several items, including computers, clothes and a cellphone were stolen.

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- Beeld