Durban - The woman, who was seriously injured after a rock thrown by protesters hit her in the head, has woken up from her coma.
Sashnie Daniel, 27, has come off life support and is able to breathe on her own her father, Kovi Daniel, said yesterday.
Sashnie was injured when the car she was in and 10 others were pelted with rocks by Shaka’s Head residents protesting over an electricity outage.
She suffered a fractured skull and, after surgery last week, slipped into a coma and was on a ventilator.
Kovi said Sashnie had smiled when she saw him after waking up, a sight which brought tears to his eyes. “We are so relieved she is not on life support. We know it’s just the start of her recovery but we are so grateful she’s awake.”
He said Sashnie was to go for CT scans.
“She can’t recall what happened and tends to forget things now and then but that’s not important right now, we don’t want to upset her at this sensitive time by showing her how she got injured, it’s even difficult for us to see,” said Kovi.
He said the support they received had carried the family through the worst times.
On Friday, the community of KwaDukuza rallied around them, hosting an interfaith prayer at the Stanger Siva Sungum hall, for Sashnie’s recovery.
Kovi said he had also received a phone call from the municipality to set up a meeting but this was yet to happen.
Sphelelo Ngobese, KwaDukuza’s municipal communications and knowledge officer, said the municipality wanted to engage with those who have been affected.
He said the mayor, Richardo Mthembu, had asked the office of the municipal manager to meet the family as part of an internal preliminary investigation.”