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"I THOUGHT I was going to die; I thought nobody would ever find me," were some of the thoughts that went through 74-year-old Isgak Hendricks' mind when he was trapped in a stormwater drain for almost nine hours.

The man who was once very agile now lays in bed bruised and emotionally traumatised, with both his arms in slings due to dislocated shoulders.

He spoke to People's Post about the traumatic nine hours.

On Tuesday, 12 February, Hendricks, from Parkwood, was on his way to Mosque and as usual walked across the field in Goolhurst Estate.

However, unbeknown to him, there was an open stormwater drain hidden in the grass. "I didn't see the open hole and just fell in," says Isgak.

As he fell, his jersey hooked onto a concrete pole standing straight up in the hole. He managed to ba?lance on a metal strip protruding from the pole, and kept this position for the next nine hours until his two sons found him at 05:30.

"I was in so much pain. I shouted, 'God please help me! My children where are you?'". Hendricks prayed through the entire ordeal. "I thought I would die in that hole and my family would never find me."

Meanwhile his wife, Fatiema, became concerned when he had not returned home by midnight and reported him missing at the Grassy Park Police Station. The police sent out patrol vehicles to search for him, but were unsuccessful. Fatiema also phoned all the hospitals, but to no avail. The family returned to their home in Parkwood at about 03:00, but Fatiema could not rest and asked her two sons to search one last time.

"They went out with the bakkie and then searched on foot with torches when they reached the field in Goolhurst."

When Hendricks saw his son above him, he just started crying and shouted for them to "take me out of this hole".

The police as well as the ambulance arrived on the scene and Hendricks was taken to hospital. "He was shaking in shock and was severely dehydrated," says Fatiema.

Hendricks'' clothes had to be cut off at the hospital because of his dislocated shoulders. He was gi?ven oxygen and morphine. The Hendricks family is grateful to all who helped. The drain was sealed the day after Hendricks was found.

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