On the morning of 30 September 2013 Edna Mouton left her 4 year old son in the care of his grandmother since she had to go to work at Mediclinic in Upington.
His father Richard came to fetch him for a visit and on the way back they were involved in a horrific accident. It’s been 7 years, but he is still too traumatised to discuss the events that transpired. All he manages to share is that it had been a nightmare during which his son lost his leg and 3 other people their lives.
Edna only heard about the accident the following day and that her son was being treated at the hospital in Kimberley. She didn’t know how serious it was and was not at all prepared to find his broken body full of tubes before further discovering, once she lifted the blanket, that his right leg had been amputated.
Little Richard suffered multiple injuries in multiple areas including his scalp; he fractured his collarbone, left tibia and sustained a massive injury to his right leg, resulting in amputation. His left foot was crushed and is currently malformed. Little Richard spent two and a half months recovering in hospital with his mom by his side.
Edna has two other adult children, but Richard was her baby boy and after the accident she was overwhelmed over how she would be able to raise him and provide for his special needs. Filled with grief, she admits that it was a large adjustment to look after him. She gave birth to a child with two legs and now he has become disabled. She thanks the people in her community and the staff at the hospital that provided the comfort and support she needed to carry on.
The road to recovery has been slow but the generous sponsors at the Lions Club sponsored his first prosthesis. During this time someone referred her to Simpsons Attorneys, Personal Injury Law specialists. Tamlyn Melville was her appointed attorney and guided her through the process with care and sympathy. Edna and Richard travelled to Cape Town and stayed in a guest house while they went to see various doctors and specialists that Simpsons had arranged for them. All of their expenses were covered. An Orthopaedic Surgeon was appointed to make Richard another prosthetic leg. He has had two prostheses fitted so far as well as an operation to remove the growing bone from his amputated leg. This type of operation will have to be done several times during his life.
Simpsons secured sufficient compensation from the Road Accident Fund as settlement for the damages suffered by Richard and his family as well as an undertaking to cover all future medical treatment.
Richard is now 11 and currently a learner in Grade 6 at Westerkim Primary. As a child with a physical disability he sometimes has to endure teasing from his peers, he also suffers from headaches and mood changes. He has no feeling in his remaining foot, but his treatment plan and future is secured through the trust fund that continue to provide for him, thanks to the tenacity of his attorney who never stopped fighting for him.
