Couple forgives Lamborghini driver for accident which took their legs

It was supposed to be a dream trip up the coast to celebrate his wife's retirement.

But a freak accident ended their holiday - and almost their lives - when Rodney and Maria Lakay were hit by a Lamborghini while watching a rally in Knysna last month.

This week the couple, from Ravensmead in Cape Town, spoke for the first time about their ordeal - saying they had forgiven the driver of the car involved.

The couple lost their lower legs simultaneously when rally participant Louis Oelofse, a Johannesburg doctor, reportedly lost control of his Lamborghini during a time trial, slamming a stationary Toyota Prado into the Lakays' Mercedes Vito.

They had been sitting in the Vito, with their legs dangling out of the open sliding door. The impact from the Prado severed their legs. The Lakays were rushed to the Life Knysna hospital, where their lives hung in the balance .

"I woke up in ICU six or seven days later not knowing that the doctors had been fighting to pull me through for so long," said Rodney. "My first thought was: 'Why are the nurses washing me without taking off my sandals?' My sandals felt so tight, I just couldn't understand why they weren't taking them off first."

Said Maria: "I felt myself dying. I really felt myself leaving my body. It was then that I said 'Lord, I choose life; I choose life because I have two beautiful children. Lord I choose life because I have a lovely husband. Lord I choose life.'"

"If I could speak to the driver, I would tell him that God loves him so much that he put us in his path so that he could live for his family."

Rodney is adamant he is not angry about the loss of his lower limbs. "I believe there is something greater out there," he said.

Rodney, who works for a printing company and visits the Eastern Cape once a month on business, had decided to take Maria along for a holiday.

"She retired at the end of July and I thought it would be a great idea to take a slow trip up the coast getting to know the towns I usually just drive through."

Maria said the couple did everything together. "Rodney doesn't even want to put petrol in his car if I don't go with him. God knew that we were so close that he even took all four our legs at the same time."

The Lakays were due to leave Knysna this weekend to continue their rehabilitation at Vincent Pallotti hospital in Cape Town. The couple's lawyer, Jurie Terblanche, confirmed he would bring a claim against the Road Accident Fund on their behalf.

Oelofse, who could not be reached this week, was also injured, and discharged from hospital the same day.