Athlete screams in vain for help during saw attack News

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Athlete screams in vain for help during saw attack

By Daily Sports on March 8, 2018

The South African triathlete whose leg was sawn by robbers was forced to scramble to safety after no one heard his screams, his training partner has revealed.

Sandile Shange told the BBC’s Newsday it is believed the three assailants only stopped cutting into Mhlengi Gwala’s leg after they hit bone.

“They didn’t want the phone, they didn’t want the watch, they didn’t take the bicycle... they just drag[ged] him on the side of the road,” Mr Shange said.

The athlete added: “He was asking them, ‘why are you cutting my legs,’ then he said the pain he was feeling, he was screaming and crying, but there was no help from no one because it was the early hours of the morning.”

Mr Gwala seized the chance to escape after the saw got stuck in his leg, and the assailants began to cut into the second.

He pushed them out the way, and managed to get himself back to the road where a passerby picked him up and took him to hospital in Durban.

Luckily, doctors are confident they will be able to save his leg. However, it will be “a long walk” until he can get on his feet again, Mr Shange said.

The motive for the attack, which is under investigation, is still not clear.

•Photo shows South African triathlete Sandile Shange

Source Daily Sports

Posted March 8, 2018