Durban - A Johannesburg family is facing the sad reality of spending Christmas without their beloved mother and daughter after a motorcycling trip through KwaZulu-Natal ended with her tragic death at a famous mountain lodge at the top of Sani Pass in Lesotho.
Sue Church, 40, was one of two bikers who collapsed in a shower in the rondavels at the Sani Mountain Lodge on September 22. A report by forensic investigator David Klatzow concluded that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning.
Lesotho Police Mokhotlong district commissioner Piti Khutlang said an inquest docket had been opened and police were waiting for a copy of the forensic report.
He said no foul play was suspected.
Rebekah Janse van Rensberg, 22, was one of 20 bikers who had planned to ride their motorbikes through KZN and up the pass with Church, but their plans were scuppered due to rainy weather.
Janse van Rensberg posted her concerns about the circumstances surrounding Church’s death on Facebook on December 11, complaining about the gas geyser installations and the way the lodge had handled the tragedy.
Janse van Rensberg said the bikers got a shuttle up to the lodge, where they planned to spend the night, starting with a shower.
She said she caught a whiff of gas before losing consciousness.
“All I remember is feeling a little drowsy and sitting down. I awoke in the rondavel shaking, it was the weirdest thing. Eventually, when I came to consciousness, everyone was saying I had been convulsing and my eyes were rolling back,” she said.
“My dad said he was going to call Sue. My dad found her in the shower. I walked in and saw my dad giving her CPR,” Janse van Rensberg said.
She said she had recently done a CPR course, and still feeling weak and dizzy, she took over.
“I felt for a pulse. There was nothing. Her eyes were open. I thought at that point she was already dead, but I tried CPR,” she said.
Church’s husband Michael Church said he had been in discussion with the lodge’s attorneys regarding her death. Church is survived by her sons, aged 6, 7 and 11.
“Everybody who knew Susan would have expected her to live to be 120 years old. She was an absolute fitness fanatic with a passion for life. My boys have lost a loving and devoted mom,” Michael said.
A week after Church’s death, Mariaan Knott, of Bloemfontein, who booked into the lodge on September 29, alleged her 18-year-old son, Michael, had collapsed in a rondavel shower.
Knott said lodge manager Jasper Esterhuizen performed CPR and Michael was taken to a hospital in Mokhotlong where doctors stabilised him.
She said he had appeared to have fully recovered.
LODGE RESPONSE
Sani Mountain Lodge in a statement said its team was “utterly devastated” about Sue Church’s death.
“We did engage with Mrs Church’s family and gave every assistance we could.”
The lodge said at the time, management had no idea what had caused the guests to collapse as they had not experienced previous incidents. It said its general manager had rushed to assist when Rebekah Janse van Rensberg collapsed, but he was only called to Church’s room 30minutes after she was found.
“He immediately contacted a paramedic who recommended CPR be continued. Another guest who was a doctor confirmed that Mrs Church had sadly already passed away.”
The lodge said it then disconnected and removed all gas bottles and closed the cabins, but a guest staying in a different cabin collapsed the following week.
The lodge said it closed to all overnight guests and contacted respected forensic investigator Dr David Klatzow in an effort to establish the cause.
It said the previous lodge owners’ had hired gas geyser installers who had not provided “some geysers with a flue to vent the products of combustion to the outside as required”.
The lodge said it was implementing the forensic report’s recommendations including:
* Replacing all geysers which would be mounted outside.
* Installing carbon monoxide detectors and window fans.
* Training all staff in CPR and emergency first aid
* Engaging a health and safety consultant to conduct a risk assessment.