DURBAN - Triathlete Mhlengi Gwala’s recovery will take up to 18 months, doctors said on Friday.
A delegation of doctors, government officials and media were at Gwala’s bedside at the St Augustine’s hospital in Durban on Friday following reconstructive surgery performed earlier this week on one of the triathlete's legs.
Gwala had been attacked in Durban on Tuesday by unknown men who tried to saw off his legs, allegedly with a power saw.
Plastic surgeon, Dr O’Sharran R Singh operated on Gwala in a five-hour operation earlier this week. He said the attackers had almost completely dismembered one of Gwala's legs, cutting through 80% of the lower leg bone, and destroying up to 80% of muscle and nerve tissue.
He said the recovery process would be monitored for 12 - 18 months, but that it was very unlikely Gwala would be able to perform at the same level again as an athlete.
Dr O'Sharran Singh who performed the surgery on triathlete Mhlengi Gwala. Picture: Fred Kockott
SA team doctor, Dr Kevin Subban, from Prime Human Performance Centre, said the athlete had been in the sport to change his life.
“Mhlengi has been on the programme since its inception four years ago, he was really progressing well, to such an extent that if you know the history, he has come out of a really bad situation. He felt that sport had changed his life,” said Subban.
Subban said they would arrange psychologists to help him during his rehabilitation phase and thanked members of the public who had donated money to support Gwala through www.backabuddy.co.za.
Subban said as the athlete was a breadwinner, the money would help the family as he would not be able to cycle or perform his lifeguarding duties during the recovery process.