MPUMALANGA. – Zjanique van Niekerk (5) was discharged from hospital on Thursday evening and is recovering well at home after being seriously injured when a horse ran over her. She suffered a broken jaw, fractured palate and broken arm among other injuries, and was transported to Nelspruit for emergency medical treatment following the incident.
"We are just grateful our child is alive and we want to give all the glory and praise in this whole story, however it unfolds, to the Lord for His grace, for His greatness, for His goodness and the fact that He is giving us another opportunity, another chance with our little girl, that she gets to be with us."
Zjacques van Niekerk, Zjanique's father, tells Nuusflits the incident happened on Monday and that Zjanique's 13-year-old brother was on the horse during the incident. He says that he is doing well under the circumstances. The brave girl has already undergone three operations on her face and her broken arm. Zjacques says they were very frightened. It is an event that Zjanique's parents – Zjacques and Rolfina – never want to experience again.
When you listen to other eyewitnesses who witnessed and experienced the accident, such as the brother on the horse, the sister beside the road and a friend in a vehicle behind them, you realise how great God's grace was, says Zjacques. The horse's hoof struck Zjanique's body on the left side with barely a scratch. Mercifully only a graze mark was left, but her arm was stamped on. Zjacques believes if her body had been trampled, they would have had a funeral, but now they have a testimony to share.
Because Zjanique's jaw is broken at the top and there are wires on the inside, she can only be fed soft food through a large syringe. The brother, who was on the horse, is heartbroken, but as a family they pray with him and he is already receiving counselling from their pastor to understand that an accident can happen to anyone. Besides Zjanique's 13-year-old brother, they have an older brother of 16 and a six-year-old sister.
According to Liezel Victor on a BackaBuddyprofile, R200 000 was targeted for medical expenses. More than R260 000 was raised within four days. The money will be used for ambulance transport, hospital and medical costs and operations among other things.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
