KZN councillor hurt in US hit-and-run
2013-01-11 10:37
Siyathemba Ben, The Witness
Pietermaritzburg - Well-known Msunduzi councillor Mergan
Chetty is recovering in Pietermaritzburg’s Medi-Clinic after he was the victim
of a hit-and-run accident in the US recently.
Chetty, who had planned to spend Christmas and New Year in
Dallas with his two sons, was cycling when a black SUV hit him and drove off.
The DA councillor told The Witness that things were going
well until the second week of his holiday.
“A guy jumped the traffic light and knocked me down,” he
said.
Multiple fractures
Fortunately for Chetty, a woman who was driving behind the
car that hit him stopped and assisted him. She called 911 and the fire
department and an ambulance arrived.
“I passed out for a while. One minute I was being
stabilised, the next I was in an ambulance,” he recalled.
He sustained multiple fractures to his right ankle and spent
about a week, including Christmas and New Year, at the Medical Centre of Plano
in Texas, before coming back home to have an operation here.
“I decided to come back because my family is here,” said
Chetty, adding that his family didn’t know about the accident until he was
back.
“I didn’t want to upset them.”
Chetty endured 15 hours on a flight from the US and is now
at the Pietermaritzburg Medi-Clinic, where he had an operation on his ankle on
Wednesday.
Although he is still in pain, he said his iPad has made
being in hospital bearable.
“Thank God for my iPad. I can work, check e-mails and
Facebook,” he said, adding that he has never been in hospital before.
The councillor said he misses driving and more importantly,
his independence.
“Mostly because here you are reliant on people to move you
around.”
Lucky
However, he counts himself lucky because he now realises
that things could have been worse, especially after hearing about the death of
Burry Stander, the cyclist who was hit by a minibus taxi.
“Lives have been lost. I was shocked to hear about Burry
Stander’s death. Our hearts go out to his family.”
He said he would send a thank you note and a gift to the
woman who helped him after the accident.
After spending more than two weeks in hospital, Chetty said
he should be out next week.
He said his accident was reported to the police, but there
have been no arrests yet.
