Survived: Afrikaner cop Sergeant Jan van Staden has lucky escape: stabbed 2mm from his heart with homemade stake by berserker John Maropane
Berserker John Maropane appeared in court on Friday, facing charges of attempted murder and resisting arrest.
The Middelburg Observer 's Jana Boshoff writes on 25 January 2015 that if the wooden stake had been two centimetres higher, he would have died instantly. It just missed his heart.
Jana Boshoff 25 January 2015
Sergeant van Staden and Captain Renéé Ballot were responding in their police-vehicle to an incident outside the girls hostel at Middelburg Afrikaans High School.
Headmaster Johan Stronkhorst said he had 'been aware for some time of a man who had built himself a shelter in the parking-area next to John Magagula Street.
"This is usually used by busses,' he said. Stronkhorst and Titon Security guards had admonished the man several times that he cannot sleep on the terrain and especially not this near to the girls' hostel.
The man agree do move provided the police came and fetched him, saying that he had 'to deal with them about something which had happened in 2006'.
This happened just before 18h00 on the day in question. The man however was irate and refused to speak to black police officers and ranted against the Mhluzi police 'who had wanted
to kill him." He did agree to load his possessions into the back of the police van as requested so that they could go to the Middelburg Police Station.
However as this was happening the homeless man suddenly stormed towards Sergeant Van Staden with a large, homemade stake.
"I asked Renee (Ballot) to get my firearm from its holster because I was afraid this guy would get hold of it, said Van Staden'.
Captain Ballot called for reinforcements and fired a warning shot with Sergeant Van Staden's firearm.
Two more policemen showed up very quickly and the four cops tried to get the frantic man under control, spraying him with pepper spray - some of which got into Sergeant Van Staden's eyes.
It's only when he was rinsing out his eyes with water that he noticed that his entire shirt was covered in blood.
"I never felt him stabbing me. At one stage while we were struggling with him, I did feel that I was beginning to breathe heavily but there was no pain'.
He was rushed to Midmed Hospital - and the Xrays taken there showed exactly how lucky he was to still be alive: all his life-sustaining organs were missed.
John Maropane very likely will be referred to a psychiatric hospital for observation, it is believed.
On Wednesday - just six days after his near-death experience -- Sergeant Jan van Staden was back on the job.
A similar event which didn't end as well happened in November 2011, when a berserker male, Patrick Gumede, had managed to take away
the firearm of Sergeant Hennie Steyn and he was shot dead in the Middelburg police station. Gumede was shot dead by colleagues within seconds.
After his death however it was determined that while everybody believed Gumede had been 'insane', Gumede turned out to be one of the most wanted, violent criminals in the area...
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