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As a diabetic, a burn victim is now fighting infection and needs to be urgently transferred to a fire signal.
Sakkie van der Walt suffered third-degree burns over most of his body.
It’s a rush against time to get 68-year-old Sakkie van der Walt, a farmer from the Elandspruit area, to a burn unit in time after suffering first-, second- and third-degree burns all over his body in a wildfire.
According to Sakkie’s stepdaughter, Chané Heroldt, her mother, Leatitia, is currently busy with arrangements to transfer her husband to Life Midmed Hospital after he was trapped on his Elandspruit farm on the old Witbank Road on 3 August.
Chané explained that farmers had already come to get the fire under control that day, but that it had risen again and that Sakkie was out with his tractor and water cart to fight the fire.
However, the wind changed direction and Sakkie was trapped in the flames.
A farm worker came across the badly burned Pouch, and drove the tractor out of the fire with him. The fire overwhelmed them and the water cart was destroyed.
Sakkie was admitted to Wolwekrans (Impungwe) Hospital where he has since been receiving treatment.
“The service at Impumgwe was fast, great and helpful,” read one of Laetitia’s messages.
However, Sakkie is a diabetic, and has recommended to a private doctor that he be urgently transferred to a burn unit.
“The doctors at Impungwe told us there was no need to transfer him and that his wounds looked worse than they were. But the hospital does not have the facilities to provide the necessary treatment. He should have gone to the theater a long time ago and been scrubbed. My stepfather is dying from the pain, and they are not giving him the necessary anaesthetic for it,” Chané told the Middelburg Observer.
Sakkie does not have a medical aid, and crowdfunding has since started to help pay for medical costs.
In a WhatsApp message circulated by Leatitia, she says the following:
“On Saturday the 10th, I started asking for Sakkie to be transferred to a hospital with a burn unit. I consulted the doctor and it is just said that it is not necessary. We got private help and advice, and the cruel truth is that if Sakkie is not transferred tonight, it will cause his death. Please pray. I ask please, we need strength and support. Please pray that we get a transfer, he has to go to the theatre, he has to get sedation, he has to be admitted to the intensive care unit and isolated.”
His hands are currently closed, but he has to feed himself and take him to the bathroom.
Those who would like to make financial contributions can visit the following link:
https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/sakkie-van-der-walt-burn-victim-survivor
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