Painful path to healing for victim of road row

With every step she takes, Kim McCusker is painfully treading a long road to recovery.

She has been in pain every day since suffering a range of horrific injuries during a peak-hour traffic altercation in Johannesburg two years ago.

McCusker, now 28, was knocked over by a taxi in Lonehill on September 13 2011.

McCusker said on the day of the incident, she and her then-fiancé, Lourens Grobler, 38, were driving to the gym when Matome Thamage crashed into the side of their car at a busy intersection.

''I waited in the car while Lourens got out to get accident details. I saw the taxi driver gesticulating."

She decided to approach the driver to see whether she could help. ' 'He watched me walk towards him. He looked at me and accelerated towards me," she said. ''The taxi hit me and I fell over and screamed to alert the driver. I tried to get up and he put foot and drove on."

McCusker, an advocate, was caught under the taxi and dragged 700m on her back.

She said Grobler chased after the taxi on foot and punched the driver's window in an attempt to stop him.

''The whole time I was thinking 'keep your head off the ground'," she said.

Doctors at Fourways Life Hospital gave McCusker little chance of survival.

She had lost 58% of her skin, which was scraped off, exposing bone, ligaments and muscle. Her vertebrae were fractured in seven places, as were both her legs, and some of her hair had been ripped out.

''My left foot was shredded from ankle to toe right down to muscle and bone."

Her other injuries included:

A rib fracture;

Her left ear was almost torn off and had to be reattached;

Deep abrasions on the left side of her face and neck;

The skin was torn off her right arm from shoulder to elbow;

Her right scapula (shoulder blade) was exposed down to muscle and bone;

Her right buttock had deep abrasions; and

She suffered extensive injuries to the perianal area, which required a colostomy. It was reversed after four months.

McCusker won a small victory last week when the Road Accident Fund accepted full liability for the accident.

She is now embarking on the second phase of her civil claim, which will determine how much she is entitled to receive.

The former ballerina is determined to get back on her feet.

Last month, she underwent surgery to repair severe damage to her right leg. ''I spent two-and-a-half months in isolation after the accident. I was in theatre twice a week."

Skin was repeatedly grafted from the back of her thighs and groin area. ''It took a lot of physio and rehab to get me just to be able to walk again. I use to be a very active person."

When she married Grobler in May 2012, she was determined to walk down the aisle without crutches and even wore high heels. ''I suffered for it. It was a difficult day. I was in a lot of pain."

The taxi driver accused of running her over, Thamage, 31, was charged with attempted murder and reckless driving. He has pleaded not guilty.

A warrant of arrest was issued for Thamage in September last year after he failed to appear in the Randburg Magistrate's Court.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said police traced him to a house in Bram Fischerville in Soweto.

''Police could not execute the warrant because he was so ill that he could not get out of bed," said Mogale.

During the bail application, Thamage claimed he had not intentionally hit McCusker, but was attempting to flee from Grobler, who he alleged had assaulted him.

He opened a case against Grobler for assault. Grobler was acquitted.

Medical and psychological experts have predicted that McCusker will be unable to practise law.

At best, she can manage only a half-day job.

In another case, Pretoria lawyer Meekahefele Masooa, 43, is due to appear in the Roode-poort Magistrate's Court on April 25 accused of killing motorcyclist Doug Pearce, 39, on February 14 during a road rage incident. Both men carried firearms.

• laganparsadm@sundaytimes.co.za