Johannesburg - When 11-year-old Joshua O’Callaghan was knocked over on the N12 highway and the driver fled the scene, a witness chased after him and reported his car licence plate number to the Ekurhuleni metro police.
Joshua was fishing with his grandfather, Leigh Acar, on Friday at a lake in Benoni when they were attacked by three thugs who beat Acar with metal pipes.
Joshua ran for help to the N12 highway, near the Snake Road on-ramp. Motorists in two cars saw the crying child and pulled over, but then a Mercedes-Benz overtook them in the emergency lane and knocked the boy over. He flew above the cars and landed in the middle of the highway, where bystander Lindsey Duly managed to clear his airways of blood and save his life.
Joshua’s parents were in Cape Town, and when they heard of the double attack, they flew back home – and on the way to the hospital were victims of a smash-and-grab.
Joshua’s father, Trevor O’Callaghan, was determined to catch the driver of the Mercedes, who had reportedly stopped his car, looked at the child lying bleeding in the road, then driven off.
O’Callaghan struggled to open a case with police, who told him he needed hospital documentation to prove the incident had occurred.
A witness did get the Mercedes-Benz’s registration number and reported the hit-and-run a few minutes after it happened, but it appears the police did not act on the information.
Hans Brombacher was driving in front of the Mercedes and stopped when he saw Joshua knocked over.
“When I saw the car driving off, I said to my wife we need to stop this guy. So I started following him. But he moved so fast I couldn’t keep up, so we took his number plate instead,” he said.
The Star knows the name of the owner of the car whose number plate is linked to the incident.
However, the O’Callaghan family have had no indication that the police have done anything about the matter.
On Tuesday night, O’Callaghan was again at a police station trying to open a case.
Brombacher said he called the Ekurhuleni metro police, told them what had happened and gave them the registration number of the car. He was given a reference number and is still waiting for the police to give him a call.
Another witness, Lucy Henriques, said she was amazed at the strength Joshua showed.
“He kept wanting to get up, and we kept telling him to lie down and wait for the ambulance. Now that I know his grandfather had been attacked, it makes sense that even though he was so terribly hurt, he was still trying get up and help his grandfather,” Henriques said.
She was driving home from the Bunny Park in Benoni when she saw Joshua standing in the yellow-line section of the on-ramp, crying and pleading for help.
She was pulling over when she saw the Mercedes drive into the child.
“Joshua was thrown into the air with his body upside down. I was completely shocked and immediately phoned 10111 to report the accident,” she said.
The Star