Johannesburg - Carl Pistorius, brother of murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius, has been discharged from ICU following an accident outside Modimolle, Limpopo, his family said on Tuesday.
“Carl suffered poly-trauma injuries during the accident,” family spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess said in a statement.
“These included lacerations to his heart and liver and he also went into respiratory failure.”
He was discharged from the intensive care unit last week but would remain in hospital for the next two weeks for more operations. He would then be sent to a rehabilitation facility to regain mobility, Burgess said.
She said Carl Pistorius was grateful for the support he had received from his family, friends and the public.
The accident took place outside Modimolle earlier this month when Pistorius's car collided head-on with another.
He had to be freed from the wreckage using the Jaws of Life. He and the driver of the other car were taken to hospital, both with serious injuries. Two passengers in his car were uninjured in the crash.
In May last year, Carl Pistorius was acquitted on a culpable homicide charge by the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate's Court.
The court also acquitted him on alternative charges of reckless or negligent driving, and driving without reasonable consideration for another person using the road. He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
His bakkie collided with Maria Barnard's motorbike on March 8, 2008. She died in hospital a few days later.
Oscar Pistorius faces a murder charge after his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead in his Pretoria home on February 14 last year.
He claims he shot her by accident through the locked door of his toilet, thinking she was an intruder. The State contends he killed her during an argument.
Judgment in that case is expected on September 11. - Sapa