Durban - A KwaZulu-Natal Midlands man, who suffered multiple fractures and broken ribs during a violent attack at his home last month, is on his way to recovery.
Burgen Thorne is now able to move from his hospital bed to a wheelchair.
In September, Burgen and Chantelle, were getting ready to have supper and catch up on a Netflix series when three armed men walked into their Hidcote home and attacked them.
Chantelle said the knife-wielding men kicked her husband in the ribs and stood on his back.
They also stabbed him three times. At one point, my husband was lying in a pool of his own blood.” She said one of the men grabbed her and led her through the house, at knifepoint, while he looked for items to steal.
“There is nothing of value in our home. We have literally put all our money into building this house and all they managed to take were the car keys.”
Chantelle said a farm hand, who lived on the property, rushed to the house to see what was going on and he was also assaulted.
Thorne is now paralysed from the waist down and is expected to use a wheelchair.
Chantelle said she was excited that her husband was making progress.
"It feels like Christmas. I know we are in the for long haul because he has four to six weeks of recovery but Burgen can move from the bed to the wheelchair and I am so happy about that," she said.
Chantelle also praised the staff at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
"They are really amazing people and have been working so hard to ensure that Burgen is comfortable," she said.
Chantelle also thanked the community of Mooi River for their support.
"We have really been fortunate. People we had lost contact with over the years, have reached out to us. Their support has been overwhelming," she said.
The couple are children’s book illustrators, who have worked for clients including Oxford and Cambridge universities and Pan Macmillan.
They moved from Gauteng and had been living in Hidcote, near Mooi River, for 12 years.
However, she said she was disappointed that no suspects have been arrested.