Teen shot in the neck

2005-04-20 23:32

Jo Prins and Borrie la Grange

Johannesburg - Quick thinking by his sister probably saved the life of 16-year old Matthew Clark of Muldersdrift, after he was shot in the neck by robbers.

While his 11-year-old sister Bronwyn pressed a T-shirt against his neck to stop the blood gushing from the wounds, dad Michael weaved and hooted his way through peak hour traffic to get his son to a hospital.

The attack on Clark came just days after 81-year-old Ulrich Lange was gunned down in front of his neighbours in Nooitgedacht, in the Mudersdrift area.

He was the third person to have been murdered in the area in the past two months.

The Clark family were confronted by two armed men when they arrived at their house in their twincab just after 18:00 on Monday.

Clark said he was busy opening the electric gate when he saw the men.

"I immediately started reversing. Then suddenly there were another four men running down the road towards us."

Clark said one of the men then opened fire on them.

The bullet missed him, but hit Matthew, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"I concentrated so hard on reversing away that I didn't realise by son had been shot," Michael said.

When he realised what had happened, he rushed his son to hospital.

Matthew is recovering well after being operated on and spending time in high care.

"The doctor said the bullet just missed his vertebrae," Clark said.

This is the second time the Clarks have fallen to victim to crime in as many months.

On Good Friday, they lost about R50 000 worth of goods during a burglary at their house.

- Beeld