Brutal attacker phones victim
2009-12-16 08:31
Vereeniging - A member of a gang of robbers who wanted to gouge out the eyes of a world renowned eye specialist, wants to snitch on his buddies because he didn't get his share of the loot.
Three armed robbers viciously attacked Dr Marius Pretorius, 70, and his wife, Lien, 68, in their Vereeniging flat in the town centre and robbed them of money from a walk-in safe, a watch and a wallet.
Dr Pretorius's eyes were severely damaged during the attack. At this stage it's unclear whether his sight will recover fully, but he is expected to be discharged from hospital on Thursday. On Tuesday afternoon he was still in the Emfuleni Medi Clinic in Vanderbijlpark when the gang member phoned his consulting rooms.
"Can you believe it? This man, who had apparently driven the getaway car, now wants to negotiate with the police since he's been cheated by the other robbers," said Hannelie Warren, the couple's daughter, on Tuesday.
Shortly after the man's call, the Vereeniging police and the Pretoriuses's son, Dr Rinus Pretorius - an anaesthesiologist from York in England, who'd earlier flown to South Africa to support his parents - stood by the phone, waiting in anticipation for the man to phone back.
Pretorius was overpowered with a firearm and threatened with death at the front door of their home on December 9. One of the robbers whispered to him that he was going to scratch out his eyes.
"Then the man, full of hatred, brutally started scratching in my eyes with his long, thick, white ugly nails," he said on Tuesday.
'I hope and pray that I'll recover'
"And this while the thug was sitting on my back, nonchalantly smoking a cigarette." Pretorius feels it's mere coincidence that the man wanted to damage his eyes specifically. "I think he just didn't want me to recognise him afterward."
His wife was in their bedroom, combing her hair, when she was overpowered by the other robbers.
"They choked her badly, trampled on her hip and then got the key to our safe. She's severely traumatised and is receiving counselling," said Pretorius.
The robbers apparently fled when a telephone started ringing and they heard voices on the floor below the flat.
The couple sought help while blood streamed from the eye specialist's eyes.
According to Pretorius, the ripped-off muscle in his right eye is "hanging by a thread" and will presumably only be able to be reattached during an operation in about four weeks' time, after the tissue has recovered and the bleeding has subsided.
"I have inner-eye infection in my left eye and my vision is extremely poor, but I hope and pray that I'll recover," he said.
Pretorius is a founding member and served for 21 years as president of the International Intraocular Society. He stepped down as president in 2003, but is still an active committee member.