Durban - An innocent game of catch between friends ended in calamity for young Sizwe Bewu, 7, who sustained head injuries after falling from the second-floor balcony at Tongaat Primary School on Monday morning.
Sizwe was dropped off at school just before 7am and the principal, Thegen Pillay, was the only member of staff on the school premises when it happened.
Senior pupils alerted Pillay that Sizwe had been hurt, but he could not have anticipated finding the Grade 2 pupil barely conscious and bleeding from his head.
Sizwe hurt his head when he apparently fell over the railing, landing on the concrete floor about 8m below.
IPSS Medical Rescue paramedics were first to arrive and Paul Herbst said Sizwe’s level of consciousness was low when they found him.
“The impact was on his head. We did not find any other injuries when we examined him, but he was bleeding from the head,” said Herbst.
Mediclinic Victoria staff and Netcare 911 paramedics also responded and together they stabilised him.
He was airlifted by the Air Mercy Service to King Edward VIII Hospital and later transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. In the afternoon his condition was said to be critical but stable.
Visibly distraught Tongaat Primary teachers and pupils held an emotion-filled special assembly and prayed for Sizwe and his family.
School governing body chairman Paul Naidoo said they were all shocked by the incident and were planning to implement measures to try to prevent similar tragedies in future.
He disputed the allegations that Sizwe might have slipped through missing bars in the railing, saying the space was too small for any child to go through.
“This is really an isolated incident, but we are going to have a meeting soon to discuss the possibility of some teachers coming in early to look after the children that get dropped off early,” he said.
They would also be discussing the possibility of gates to close off the stairways until after morning assembly.
“We can try to clamp down on discipline, but we can’t prevent kids from playing – they need it, it’s part of their growth. We also cannot tell parents to stop dropping their children off at school early because some have to go to work.”
The Mercury