Cape Town – Many a motorist would reverse as fast as possible if they were to see a dented car surrounded by a multitude of rocks after a storm.
Macki Chase's first instinct was "to help… but then I realised I am standing in a danger zone and need to get away from there", she posted on Facebook.
At around 10.25am on Saturday, Chase and her husband Steve stopped in shock while driving through the Franschhoek Pass to McGregor.
"We could just see a little white car right next to this huge landslide. It was raining. We stopped in shock," she told News24.
She then saw Mark Thackwray, 28, lying next to the road in shock and pain. "He showed me blood on his hands and knees," she said.
"He and his stepfather had been driving from Struisbaai down the mountain and his step-dad had his wits about him because when he saw rocks falling, he apparently said hold on and slammed on the brakes."
Realising it would have taken a while for an ambulance to arrive, they drove the landslide victims to the hospital.
⛔⚠☝🏼Cape Town - R45 Franschhoek Pass: ROAD CLOSED: RT @NMakoba
Traffic Update: Franschoek Pass closed due to rocks on the road. #CapeStorm pic.twitter.com/Q1A60AL5Xn
— SA emergency reports (@MARIUSBROODRYK) June 22, 2019
Chase was happy to have received a message from Thackwray on Sunday that he managed to escape with only a sprained ankle and knee, and a swollen hand.
"Message from the brave injured Mark: Ok nothing is broken luckily, my left ankle and knee is sprained and has swelling but will be fine in a few days, left hand is hurt but not broken."
Earlier, she posted on Facebook: "This young man is so brave. He says it felt like a bucket of golf balls being turned over onto them…
"It's a miracle they survived. First boulder hit the bonnet and the car spun around, then the next boulder hit the back. If it hit the middle, we would not have been so lucky to help this young man…"
Thackwray said: "It all happened in a blink of an eye. We started running and the rocks began to fall... As they fell, the rocks would break into a million pieces and one hit my ankle and I fell.
"I had never heard of or seen anything like this, not even when I used to live in Mpumalanga."
Traffic authorities had to turn motorists away from both sides of the pass on Saturday so the road could be cleared.