A year in review: Nick Bester looks back at traumatic mountain trail attack

Comrades legend Nick Bester is still on the mend after he was attacked while out on a training run in the Magalies mountains in August that left him in ICU with multiple injuries.

In an Instagram post, Bester's son Shaun-Nick said his father was beaten with rocks by attackers, stripped, tied up and left on a mountain.

“He managed to escape down the mountain by sliding on his back until he was right against someone’s fence,” Shaun-Nick added.

He was taken to hospital where he was placed in ICU, before recovering in high care and then at home.

The attack sent shock waves across Mzansi, with many offering prayers and well wishes for his recovery.

Reflecting on the incident, Bester said he thought his attackers were going to kill him.

“It was so severe, they broke my ribs. They tied my hands together. It was brutal. You could see they wanted to kill me., I don’t know why they didn’t. I’m just lucky. They took my wedding ring. They wanted to cut my finger off and I said 'no, no, I’ll help you', so I had to use my own saliva to make it easier for them to take it off,” he told TimesLIVE.

He said that he had been playing music on his phone while running and had not noticed the men behind him until it was too late.

“I was happy, playing music with my phone. I was looking ahead and never checked my back. I think they saw me and attacked me from behind. When I looked behind, it was too late.

“They jumped on me with knives, kicked me, hit me with rocks several times. In all this, I had my gun with me, which was no use because it was in front of me in a goody bag so I couldn’t get it out.

“They hit me very hard because I had a gun with me. Luckily in the bag I had two credit cards. I gave them the PIN numbers, but they dragged me away from the place where they attacked me to a place where nobody could see me.”

In the months since the attack, Bester has helped police identify some of the men allegedly involved in his and other attacks on the mountain.

“We — myself and 11 other victims — were called in to identify five of them [suspects] last Saturday, of which one was a positive for my case. They appeared in court on Monday and were charged with murder and attempted murder.

"Got a call from police yesterday and they arrested another one and asked me to come and identify later next week. Got news today that a cleaning operation in Magalies mountains confirmed the arrest of another four and more breaking-in tools and a firearm were found,” he told his Facebook followers in October.

He also thanked his friends, fans, family and medical staff at Eugene Marais hospital for their support in his recovery.

He revealed the extent of his injuries, saying he had recovered “quickly”.

“A depressed fracture of the zygomatic arch, a crack fracture at the anterior junction of the zygomatic arch, a fracture of the maxilla that extends into the left lateral extent of the inferior orbital neural foramen, concussion, haematoma and open lacerations around the left eye and cheekbone.

“Several soft tissue injuries in the face, legs and back. Several — four open lacerations at the back of the head with a lot of stitches, 3 broken ribs — nr 9,10,11 and the soft tissue bleeding on my right side.

“Numerous scars and wounds on the legs and arms including deep wounds on my Achilles tendons. Cuts on both hands. Stitches in both ears. A broken toe. Scar tissue around my kneecaps. Still got a minor problem — lost my taste and smell due to damaged olfactory nerves — hopefully will recover in time.”