Boy rescued after accident in Berg
Published: September 20, 2005
After surviving a fall that left him injured and stranded on a Drakensberg mountain pass overnight, a 15-year-old high school pupil was rescued early on Monday morning and taken to hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
Duncan Kabengu, a Grade 10 pupil at Treverton High School in Mooiriver, went hiking in the Drakensberg with a small group of fellow pupils on Sunday.
During the hike, Duncan stumbled and fell on the Tsekefeke Pass in the Cathedral Peak area. Treverton principal Graham Nolan said that teachers accompanying the pupils had decided not to move Duncan because he had a medical history of ulcers and had landed on his abdomen on rocks.
Nolan said Duncan had also become nauseous after the fall and had started vomiting. The group Duncan was with managed to get a message via two-way radio to another Treverton party which was hiking close by.
That group managed to call the Mountain Club of South Africa via cellphone for help. The Mountain Club was alerted at 3.30pm on Sunday and by 6pm a doctor, paramedics and four club members were prepared to fly to Duncan’s rescue.
However, once the helicopter was in the air they realised that low cloud would make an aerial rescue effort impossible. The team then drove in 4×4s up Mike’s Pass.
When they ran out of road around 11.30pm they walked to Duncan, reaching him about 4am on Monday morning.
Dr David Kloeck of the Emergency Medical Rescue Service said the team had carried out resuscitation efforts on Duncan on the mountain.
At 9am on Monday a helicopter flew out and picked up Duncan and Kloeck, who were taken to Pietermaritzburg’s Oribi Airport before being transported to St Anne’s Hospital.
Examinations showed that there was no need for great concern. However, due to fears that he might have injured his pancreas, he was admitted for further observation.
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