Durban - “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I’d be here.”
Those were William Labuschagne’s words on Tuesday, when he was reunited with a team of hero paramedics who saved his life last year.
His voice was laden with emotion as he thanked Netcare 911’s Dewald Schoeman and Julian Brown.
“I owe you my life,” he told them.
Today the 54-year-old father of six - a property developer from Ballito - is bright-eyed and all smiles, but last November, a freak accident left him flat on his back and fighting for his life in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains.
Tuesday marked the first time since the accident that Labuschagne had met Schoeman and Brown; It was an emotional moment for the paramedics too.
“It’s a pretty thankless job that we do. This is very rewarding, there’s a lump in my throat,” Brown said.
Labuschagne recounted his harrowing ordeal.
“It was Friday the 13th,” he said, but added - with a laugh - that he was not superstitious.
A KTM biker, Labuschagne was helping to plot a course for a race in Lower Loteni. He lost his balance atop a cliff and - bike in tow - fell 50m off the edge.
“I knew straight away that I was in trouble and that there was nothing I could do,” he said.
It took paramedics roughly three hours to reach Labuschagne, who had two bad breaks, one each in his tibia and fibula.
“But even when they removed my boot from my broken leg, there was no pain,” he said.
He described Schoeman and Brown as conscientious and cognisant and said they explained everything to him and put him at ease.
But a humble Schoeman said it was a “community effort”.
Immediately after his accident, farmers from the area rallied around Labuschagne, bringing blankets and even a rubber duck, so he could be ferried across the nearby river. Local emergency services were also at the scene.
“By the time we got there, all the systems we needed were already set up,” Schoeman said.
Labuschagne underwent surgery in the days that followed and was unable to walk for several months. He has started attending rehab and gym, but still does not have feeling in the leg.
“The doctor said it could take up to two years,” he said.
He also still has a 14cm plate and 16 screws in his leg.
Labuschagne is just grateful to be alive.
“It is a miracle,” he said on Tuesday, “When I think what could have happened... My bike could have landed on me, I could have broken my neck, I could have drowned.”
In addition to being grateful to the paramedics, Labuschagne thanked the local farmers who had helped him, the doctors who had treated him, his wife, Jeanne, and his congregation at Glenridge Church, who prayed for him.
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The Mercury