A middle-aged West Rand woman who doused herself with petrol and set herself alight after a failed job hunt two months ago is on the road to recovery.
Susan Cloete on Monday told TimesLIVE that her mother Susan van Rooyen was still in hospital and had undergone a skin graft transplant.
“She still has to do facial exercises and has a [gadget] put in her mouth everyday to try and make her mouth open bigger‚” said Cloete.
“They will make her new teeth and she has had to go to theatre for her left eye to straighten the muscle. She is also on a liquid diet and may start eating solids soon‚” her daughter added.
All her mother was longing for was to come home.
“She misses us and those little kids so much‚” Cloete said.
In July‚ the family ‘s lives were turned upside down when hours after another desperate and fruitless job search‚ 53-year-old Van Rooyen stood on the pavement on Union Road‚ Randgate‚ poured petrol over her head‚ smeared it into her skin and hair and set herself alight.
The horrific moments when Van Rooyen was engulfed in a ball of flames were captured on CCTV cameras.
Despite having numerous security qualifications‚ Van Rooyen had been turned away at numerous places where she had tried to get a job.
Trying her luck at a home industry shop also proved futile as her little hand-crocheted teapot cozies she had hoped to sell went for weeks unsold on the shelves.
Van Rooyen‚ who had been unemployed for about 20 years‚ battled with bipolar disorder and lived off a R1‚600 monthly social grant she started receiving after her doctor declared her unfit to work due to her anxiety.
When she is finally discharged from hospital‚ her daughter is hoping that she will have a new lease on life.
The family is already making plans for her return.
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