Kimberley - A city biker is in a serious but stable condition after both his legs had to be amputated following an accident at the weekend.
Thirty-year-old John Loots was rushed to the Kimberley Hospital, where both his legs were amputated, after an accident on Samaria Road in Cassandra around noon on Saturday.
According to eye witnesses Loots was coming from the fly-over at high speed and was forced to swerve when a bakkie pulled in front of his motorbike at the McHardy Road intersection.
When the DFA arrived at the scene, Loots was already on his way to hospital while police and traffic officers as well as tow truck operators cleared the scene.
A green bakkie, loaded with garden refuse, had come to a halt at an angle on the side of the road while a lamppost that Loots hit was still covered in blood as a result of the impact.
“The biker lost control and was badly hurt,” one of the eye witnesses, who was the first to get to the scene of the accident, said.
“He was still conscious when he (was taken away by the ambulance). We did what we could to put pressure on the wounds and to keep him talking. We did not want him to go into shock.
“I went back into the house and looked for every towel I could find to help stop the bleeding,” the witness said.
“All he wanted to do was to take off his helmet, but we were concerned about neck injuries and we knew that he should keep it on.”
Kimberley police spokeswoman, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete, on Sunday said that a case of reckless and negligent driving was being investigated.
“On arrival at the scene, the police found the motorbike and the helmet in the road and the rider lying in the veld with injuries to both legs.
The rider and driver of the bakkie were transported by ambulance to hospital for medical treatment,” Cloete said.
“The motorbike rider is in a critical but stable condition.”
Spokeswoman for the Department of Health, Lulu Mxekezo, on Sunday said that Loots needed to undergo a further procedure on Sunday afternoon.
“The patient was involved in a motorcycle accident. He was admitted at about noon on Saturday with traumatic injuries to both lower limbs.
“He is currently in theatre and his condition is critical,” Mxekezo said.
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