Pretoria - The nephew of Australian celebrity Rob Dickson, who was severely injured in an accident in which Dickson and his two sons died, is set to receive R6.75 million from the Road Accident Fund.
Glynne Rorke was 13 in April 2009 when he was travelling with his uncle and other relatives to Sun City and Pilanesberg.
Dickson, who was 45 at the time of his death, was a well-known Australian football league star, a film director and winner of the reality show Australian Survivor in 2002.
His widow, Susan Cuttell, who was in the car with the couple’s two sons, Gabriel, 8, and Byron, 5, was awarded R5.2m in damages by the Road Accident Fund in August.
This was after she instituted a damages claim and the fund accepted liability to compensate her. This was for the loss of support owing to the death of her husband.
Rorke, who at the time of the accident lived in Zimbabwe, but was in South Africa on holiday with his family, suffered serious head and orthopaedic injuries.
He played rugby and water polo for his school’s first team before the accident, but is now unable to pursue his love of sport.
He has moved with his family to Australia, where he wanted to pursue a career as a diesel mechanic.
It was, however, doubtful that he would achieve this because of the accident, the court was told. He was now working at a tyre fitting company.
His father told a doctor who compiled a medical report on his son’s injuries that he had undergone a personality change. He had become withdrawn and quiet, irritable and short-tempered. He also had an ongoing fear of cars and traffic and showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Jean-Paul Rudd of law firm Adams & Adams, which handled the claims on behalf of the family, said the settlement of this last claim would hopefully bring closure to the family.
Pretoria News