Cape Town - A Beacon Valley, Mitchells Plain mother has recounted her worst nightmare after her 13-year-old daughter was hit in the mouth by a stray bullet which went through her nostrils and stuck at the back of her skull.
Zola van Rooyen said her daughter, Tiyana, was shot during a gang fight and was in a stable condition after an operation at Groote Schuur Hospital.
Van Rooyen said that when she left Tiyana’s bedside yesterday morning, she could at least eat a yoghurt by herself.
“When the incident happened, I was not at home. My neighbour told me they realised Tiyana was hit when she fell face down. Lifting her up, her whole face, including her head, was bloodied, and they rushed her to a day hospital shortly after that.
“Doctors at the day hospital told me a bullet went through her nostrils, and they suspected it went out at the back of her skull, but to be sure of her condition they transferred her to Groote Schuur for an MRI scan. The scan showed that the bullet was still stuck in her head,” she said.
Van Rooyen said that after the scan, doctors told her they would not operate because it was too dangerous.
Tiyana was admitted to a high-care ward, and her mother was told to return home because no visitors were allowed.
“I don’t know what happened after I left the hospital, but the following day I received a call telling me that they had to rush Tiyana to a theatre, and a detective gave them permission to operate on her because they could not get hold of me. There was a blockage on her brain from the small fragment of her skull, Van Rooyen said.
“Even though Tiyana is out of danger, the struggle is not over for her and our family. When she comes back home she will have to attend physiotherapy and counselling,” she said.
“What happened to my daughter, I don’t wish it on even my worst enemy.
“I can’t say she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, because she was just outside my neighbour’s house.
“Whatever these gangsters are fighting about, I wish they could take it elsewhere where it won’t affect us and our kids.
“My eldest daughter, who is doing Grade 12, is now forced to play mother to her sibling while I am away for days taking care of Tiyana, because whenever she wakes up at the hospital she calls for me.”
Letetia Stevens, the neighbour who took Tiyana to hospital, said seeing the young girl in a pool of her blood opened old wounds for her.
“I lost my son four years ago, and seeing Tiyana like that brought back bad memories. I remember myself shouting and panicking because just like my son, Tiyana got hit by a stray bullet during gang violence,” she said.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed the shooting and said there had not yet been an arrest.