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 Pistorius 'ready to go home'
    February 22 2009 at 07:33PM Get IOL on your
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Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius was conscious and ready to be discharged from the Milpark Hospital following a boat accident, a paramedic said on Sunday.

Pistorius sustained minor injuries to his face after a boat accident on the Vaal, south of Johannesburg on Saturday night.

"He is fine... his brain is functioning normally and he is 100 percent conscious. He will soon be discharged," said Dr Anchen Laubscher.

Laubscher, who was among paramedics who treated Pistorius following the 8pm boat accident, was briefing the media at the Milpark Hospital in Parktown West, Johannesburg.

"He was involved in a minor boat accident. He was stabilised at the scene before being airlifted to Milpark and handed over to the trauma unit. He suffered minor facial injuries, bruises and lacerations," she said.
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Laubscher said Pistorius' facial injuries were so minor they would not have any impact on his recently launched cologne called Carbon.

Having spoken to Pistorius shortly before the media briefing, Laubscher said the sprinter told her he was fine and thanked everyone for their interest.

Pistorius' manager, Peet van Zyl told journalist at the briefing that the 22-year-old star was travelling with a friend only identified as John at a normal boat speed when the accident happened.

He said Pistorius' relatives were in another boat at the time.

The man, also known as the "blade runner" was born without his fibulas and had to have both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old.

He won a legal battle to compete against able bodied athletes last year after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in May 2008 overturned objections by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to keep him off the track.

This was after the IAAF concluded that his carbon-fiber prosthetic racing blades would give him an unfair advantage over other athletes.

Despite achieving a personal best of 46.25 seconds in the 400 metres prior to the Olympics, he was over the required qualification time of 45.55 seconds.

However, Pistorius has since then won gold medals at the 2008 Paralympics in the 100, 200 and 400 metre sprints (class T44). He also holds the world record in all three events. - Sapa

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