Publications
It's been more than a month since Daniël Wells (22) was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident and his sister still doesn’t know what happened that day.
Daniël was a victim of a hit-and-run driver on 1 October. His sister, Eva-Mari Wells (25), says she's been unable to obtain any information about the accident. “I want to drive to the place where it happened but I’ve been too busy to get around to it,” she says.
After the accident Daniël was initially treated in the trauma intensive care unit (ICU) of the Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria. He was later moved to the high-care unit but he’s now back in the ICU.
Eva-Mari says an initial course of antibiotics didn’t help much. A total of 1,5 litres of pus has been drained from his abdomen. He's currently on a 14-day course of antibiotics, which seems to be working.
PHOTO: Supplied
But he has to be treated in isolation because of the danger of infection. For the past three weeks his abdomen has been open. The bone between his left shoulder and his elbow was snapped in two in the accident.
Because of the danger of sepsis he can’t be operated on. His abdomen will be closed at a later stage by means of a skin graft, his doctors say.
A bone in his foot was also broken – so badly that it protruded through his skin. It has since been pulled back inside his foot and the skin has been stitched up. Eva-Mari says two of Daniël’s toes are black from gangrene and there’s talk of a possible amputation. “If they’re left they could fall off on their own.”
Read more: Elderly man killed in horror-hit-and-run – then run over twice more
Eva-Mari says for the past week her brother received no morphine but he’s now back on this painkiller because he’s in severe pain. “He communicates by means of nods,” she says.
The siblings used to work together as contractors, commuting between Witbank and Pretoria. Their mom died a year ago and their father died eight years ago.
Eva-Mari believes her brother was returning from buying cigarettes when he was hit. A packet of cigarettes, one of which had been smoked, a cigarette lighter and money were found on him.
In the past week she tried to find out from him what happened. “He wrote something about a white bakkie and security, but I don’t know if that has to do with the accident or with someone who stopped afterwards,” she says.
Eva-Mari is appealing to anyone who witnessed the accident to come forward. “Someone must take responsibility for it.”
Read more: Pretoria teen in coma 155 days after wind swept him off back of bakkie
