Under the circumstances, Michael Pretorius (21) is doing better after the car accident on the R57 which he survived last week, but which claimed the life of his brother Nicky (22).
“Michael’s condition is critical but stable,” the young men’s father, also Nicky, told RNews on Friday afternoon.
“They began to lift the anesthesia systematically. I could tell him, ‘Hey daddy’s kid. Daddy is here with you’. Then he started crying. The tears flowed from both eyes. He can hear everything we say to him.”
The recovery of Michael’s left foot is also going miraculously better. Earlier this week, the possibility still existed that this foot would have to be amputated.
The blood supply to the foot has meanwhile recovered and it appears that only the tip of a toe may have to be amputated. The family attributes this miraculous recovery to prayer.
Michael broke both legs in the accident and will have to undergo surgery for them in two weeks.
“I’m going home next Friday because my other child’s funeral is next Saturday. I will then drop by again in the afternoon so that I can be here for visiting time.
“On the one hand, I’m very happy about Michael’s progress, but then I think about Nicky again…”
He then gets emotional.
“It’s a hell roller coastersr. His mother’s birthday today. It’s just difficult. She says this morning she misses his old birthday message. It’s very bad. You don’t want to know.”
RNews reported earlier this week that 22-year-old Nicky died last Thursday in a hospital in Sasolburg in the Free State after he and Michael were involved in an accident on the R57 the night before.
On the evening in question, the brothers were on their way from a restaurant in Sasolburg to their home in Vaalpark when they collided with a tree along the R57 just before 10:00 p.m. Michael was behind the wheel. However, the exact details of the accident are still unclear.
Nicky Jr. suffered, among other things, serious head injuries and was already placed on life support machines at the scene of the accident. He was declared brain dead the next morning at the Metsimaholo District Hospital in Sasolburg.
Michael had to be freed from the wreckage and has meanwhile been connected to life support machines in the intensive care unit of the Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein.
