A man sustained critical head and neck injuries after falling off the cliffs near The Marine Hotel in Hermanus.
Marius Boshoff, Hermanus branch manager for Fidelity ADT, confirmed a Hermanus Public Protection (HPP) officer responded to the scene after a friend of the injured man had flagged him down for help. HPP is a ratepayer-funded initiative in partnership with Fidelity ADT.
“The officer assessed the scene and immediately called for medical assistance to be deployed,” Boshoff related. “Hermanus Neighbourhood Watch heard the radio transmission and sent two of its vehicles to assist. They were joined by Metro Ambulance Services and Overberg Fire and Rescue. The patient was stabilised and transported to hospital for medical treatment.”
Hermanus Neighbourhood Watch assisted Metro Rescue Services and the Overstrand Fire Department with extracting the injured man from the rocks and loading him into the ambulance.
Elisma Grobbelaar of Revival Town Hermanus, a NPC working with the homeless, reported the man – Shabir Swartz – had been transferred to Tygerberg Hospital’s Neurological Intensive Care Unit.
“He sustained skull fractures, his neck is broken and the left side of his body is paralysed due to bleeding on the right side of his brain,” she said.
“We hope and pray this is only temporary.
“He is still on a ventilator and under sedation.
“The other homeless people are very sad and concerned because he has been a part of them for a number of years. Everyone is praying for his recovery.”
