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It felt like he was trapped in a nightmare – there was blood everywhere and he was painfully aware that one wrong move could cost him his life.
In that moment Xolani Dlangamandla was so panic-stricken that he didn’t even realise the blood was his own, gushing from the spot on his arm where his attacker had just hit him with a sharp weapon.
But then he looked down and saw what had happened: that his hand had been almost totally amputated and was hanging from his arm by just a tiny sliver of skin. And that is the last thing Xolani remembers about that horrific morning in 2017 because the sight of the injury was just too much for him and he passed out.
What he does remember vividly is waking up in Umhlanga Hospital near Durban and discovering that his hand had been meticulously reattached in a 15-hour surgical procedure.
“The doctor said that I was very lucky because the cut was so clean – almost like it was done by a machine, that no bones were affected which is why they were able to reattach my hand,” Xolani (36) recalls.
Five years on, not a day goes by that he doesn’t look at his hand and remember his harrowing ordeal.
“To have my chopped-off hand put back is a miracle,” he says. “I still cannot believe it. It’s like something out of a movie.”
He will never forget how things unfolded on that day. It was 10 November 2017 and Xolani, a security guard, was nearing the end of his night shift at a site near Pietermaritzburg.
“There were six of us on duty and we’d clocked in at 6pm and patrolled the grounds every 30 minutes as per our worksheets.”
Around 4am, Xolani heard a strange noise as he was sitting in the guardhouse.
“When I got up to see what was happening, I noticed two guys in civilian clothing,” he says.
At first he assumed they were site employees who’d arrived early, but then he noticed they were carrying guns.
“That’s when the trouble started,” he says.
Three more men appeared and they helped to bind the guards’ hands with table ties. But Xolani they left free – they told him to remove the computer monitor screens from the wall.
“Those screens were bolted to the walls, and it was really hard to remove them,” he recalls.
When the thieves realised this, they turned to the cellphones and laptops in the guardroom.”
“Then they started beating us,” he says. “They mercilessly hit us with their pistols and kicked us around even though we had done everything they’d asked.”
The attack lasted for a few minutes. When it stopped, Xolani hoped the robbers would flee but then the unthinkable happened.
“One of the muggers took out a long thin silver weapon and told me to kneel in front of the table with my arms stretched out.”
He wasn’t sure what kind of weapon it was but he could see that it was sharp and dangerous.
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“My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to stop. I just hung my head in fear, too scared to see what would happen next.”
Next thing he felt a huge blow to his left arm.
“Then my entire side just went numb,” Xolani recalls.
Looking back, he thinks the robbers may have chopped off his hand as a scare tactic to discourage them from speaking to the cops.
“There was blood everywhere and I thought I was going to die,” he says. The father-of-four collapsed in a pool of his own blood.
The robbers made a run for it and his colleagues were able to call for help.
Xolani was rushed to St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban then transferred to Umhlanga Hospital where plastic surgeon Dr Mahendra Daya and his team were standing by. It was a race against the clock.
“Any part of the body that has stopped receiving blood supply will then start the process of dying,” Daya explains. “His hand had to be cooled and preserved using ice packs.”
Using microscopic surgery, he and his team were then able to reattach the hand using stitching material thinner than a strand of hair. After the 15-hour procedure, Daya predicted that Xolani had a 90% chance of making a full recovery but warned that it could take years for the hand to regain full function.
To improve his chances, Xolani started working with occupational therapist Dr Wendy Young just three days after the attack.
He was in hospital for seven days but after being discharged he continued with occupational therapy twice a week for the next two years.
It was a long process and for 18 months he was unable to work but fortunately during this time he was still paid by his employer and could count on plenty of support from his family.
Given what happened he’s still jittery so he prefers not to reveal the names of his wife and kids but he tells us they were there every step of the way, helping him and encouraging him to stick to his rehabilitation programme.
His hand isn’t quite as nimble as it used to be.
“Because some of the nerves were damaged, simple things, like picking up a piece of paper, have become difficult,” Xolani explains.
“I have broken many things because sometimes I cannot fully grasp with my fingers.”
He can pick up things like a bottle of water fairly easily but lighter objects are tricky because his nerves don’t sense the object he’s holding.
And because of the damage to the nerves his arm is very sensitive to cold.
“When it’s cold or windy the first part that feels it is my left arm. It becomes so unbearably painful that I need to keep it covered up in order to stay warm.”
Dr Young says Xolani has achieved 90% of normal finger motion, 31% of normal strength but is still suffering slightly impaired hand coordination and some sensory loss.
But although manoeuvring the hand can sometimes be a bit tricky, Xolani’s not complaining.
“I was given another chance to live a full life, and that I am grateful for.”
Despite everything that happened, he’s back working as a security guard.
“I need to still provide for my family and sitting at home because I am scared of what might happen unfortunately won’t help me put food on the table,” he says.
Five suspects were apprehended several months after the attack. However, they were later released due to a lack of evidence, Xolani tells us.
“It’s a cold case, there have been no follow-ups, updates or justice.”
After all he’s gone through, is he able to forgive the man who did this to him?
“Yes,” Xolani says without a moment’s hesitation. “Talking about it re-opens the wound but I have forgiven the man that almost cost me my life and livelihood – I needed to so I can be at peace.”
