Man dies a month before wedding

2008-09-08 10:11

Sonja van Buul

Sasolburg - His wedding suit hangs ready in his wardrobe, but he will never wear it, or see his bride walking down the aisle towards him.

Werner Geldenhuys, 29, of Vaalpark, was on his way to work on his motorbike on Sunday morning when he swerved to avoid colliding with a car that had turned in front of him. He swerved back again, hit the car and fell.

The badly injured Sasol electrician was rushed to hospital by emergency services but died shortly after his arrival.

"The patient had many serious injuries," said Marius Venter of Vaal Emergency Care.

Wedding plans

Geldenhuys's fiancée, Laura Roux, 26, a teacher at Sasolburg Technical High School, was at the hospital when he died.

They had met four years ago and had been engaged for the past year-and-a-half. They would have married on October 11, and all the wedding arrangements had been made.

Police informed Roux about the accident on Geldenhuys's cellphone, and she was still too shocked to talk about his death on Sunday afternoon.

"It's a terrible pain. I am numb," said his heartbroken mother, Ria.

"My child was so excited about his wedding day and chose the words for the wedding invitation himself."

The text for the wedding invitation described how true love was the coming together of riddles, mysteries and surprises, resulting in two people becoming one.

Cheerful, jovial person

According to his mother, Geldenhuys was a cheerful, but quiet person.

"But once he got going, he cracked everybody up," she said.

Geldenhuys was also very close to his sister, Hendriëtte Pieterse and her husband Juan. She was badly shocked on Sunday.

"Werner was my 'brother' and motorbikes were his life. He would rather get on his bike than into a car," said his best friend, JJ Brits from Roodepoort.

Willie Roux, the bride's father, said Geldenhuys was a jovial guy. "He made my daughter happy and complemented her so beautifully."

A case of culpable homicide is being investigated against the motorist.

- Beeld