'I'm a miracle'
2009-11-25 22:42
Pietermaritzburg - "I'm a miracle," says Kavisha Seevnarain, the young Pietermaritzburg woman who was thrown off a 60m high bridge during a hijacking ordeal and left for dead.
Seevnarain, 26, a teacher at Mowat Park Girls' High in Durban, was hijacked at an intersection in Shallcross, taken on a hell ride, and then flung off a bridge on the N2 highway near Umkomaas.
She suffered a shattered pelvis, broken ribs and hypothermia. A passerby found her and alerted emergency services, who airlifted her to hospital in Durban.
Happy to be home
But now she is back home with her parents. Seevnarain told The Witness on Wednesday she is ecstatic about being at home and needs lots of bed-rest before going back to her daily routine.
Last Friday, a week after the hijacking, two of her attackers were sentenced to a total of 65 years in prison.
While it is difficult for her to talk about the ordeal, she said the experience has re-affirmed her belief in God, miracles and the power of prayer.
"God has been good to me. I could have died that night. I know that there are sceptics out there, but I'm living proof that miracles do happen," she said.
"While I was lying under that bridge, I decided that nothing was going to stop me from living. I willed myself to stay conscious and prayed that someone would find me.
"I refused to accept that I was going to die," she said.
'I refused to be a victim'
Even when doctors told her that she would be in intensive care for six weeks, Seevnarain was determined to prove them wrong.
"I was devastated when I heard this. I'm such an active person that the thought of spending all that time in bed worried me. I knew that I had to be strong and fight this pain. I refused to be victim."
Even though she is still in a great deal of pain from her shattered pelvis, Seevnarain remains positive that she is going to put her ordeal behind her and hopes to inspire other young people to be spiritual.
"I have always believed in the power of prayer, but this experience has reinforced this belief. Hopefully my story will inspire others," she said.
Unknown good Samaritan
She would love to meet the stranger who heard her cries for help and found her lying on the river bed.
"I don’t know who he is, but would love to meet and thank him for finding me. He saved my life and I will always be grateful to him," she said.
Seevnarain said she also feels blessed to have a "best friend", who alerted her parents when she did not arrive for an evening get-together.
"She knew that once I promised to visit, I would not let her down. When I failed to arrive at her home, she knew something was wrong and called my parents.
"She has been great through this entire ordeal and has done wonders for my spirits," she said.
Hard to forgive
While it could take several weeks before the bubbly Seevnarain is back on her feet, she is already making plans for the future.
She misses her pupils and wants to return to school next year as well as study for her Masters in Education degree.
"This experience has not changed my outlook on life. I have always been a positive person and will continue to be like this. The hijacking has not hardened me or turned me into a pessimist.
"I believe that people should live their lives to the fullest as we only have one life," she said.
Asked whether she would forgive her attackers, Seevnarain looks into the distance and pauses for a minute.
"I'm not a mean person, but it’s difficult to forgive them right now. They could have left me on the road, but they threw me off the bridge even when I begged them to spare me."