JMPD officer is still in a coma

JMPD officer Renaldo Rygard. Photo: Supplied

JMPD officer Renaldo Rygard. Photo: Supplied

Published Sep 10, 2013

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Johannesburg - The sister of a Johannesburg metro police officer, who was left in a coma after a car caught doing 243km/h smashed into him, hopes he will make a full recovery.

On Sunday, JMPD officer Renaldo Rygard had to be cut from his unmarked police car and airlifted to Netcare Milpark Hospital.

The car that hit him was just moments earlier caught speeding by radar on the N1 North near Lenasia.

Rygard was in a coma, his neck was broken in two places and he suffered swelling to the brain, his aunt Grace Job said on Monday.

“Unfortunately there is no change and he has a fever now,” said his sister Virginia Rygard.

“We’re not used to seeing him like this but we have faith; we know he is going to pull through, he is a fighter.”

She said she was happy that the driver of the speeding BMW - travelling at one-and-a-half times the top speed of the Gautrain - had been charged.

“We are taking it one day at a time, we’re trying to be strong for him (Renaldo).”

JMPD spokesman Wayne Minnaar said Rygard was “stable but still in a critical condition”.

“The BMW driver has already been charged with reckless and negligent driving as well as excessive speeding and will be appearing in the Protea Magistrate’s Court as soon as he’s fit to do so.”

Minnaar would not name the man until he appeared in court, or estimate when he would be fit to appear.

The Star

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