A boy caught in crossfire during an alleged gang shooting outside his home may never be able to walk again, doctors said.
|||Cape Town -
He may never be able to walk again, or ride a bike, a gift he so desperately wanted for Christmas.
Instead, 7-year-old Sadick Stemmet spent the festive day surrounded by his family as he lay in bed at Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
His mother, Sedicka Stemmet, 38, is trying to remain hopeful that her son will walk, despite doctors warning that he may be permanently paralysed.
The boy was caught in crossfire last Tuesday, during an alleged gang shooting outside his home in Olga Court, Manenberg. He was hit in the back by a stray bullet.
“The doctors say there’s little chance he could walk again, (even) if they take the bullet out, but he’s been such a fighter and I’m keeping faith he’ll be okay,” the traumatised mother said.
On Wednesday, she and Sadick’s older siblings, Nicole, 16, Damian, 14, and Dylan, 9, were at his bedside for Christmas.
“He wanted a bike, but I didn’t even go and buy it with all that happened,” said Stemmet.
The child’s spine was left cracked and his lungs damaged. The bullet is lodged in one lung.
His mother recalled rushing him to GF Jooste Hospital, from which he was later transferred to Red Cross.
“He is in so much pain because he suffered a lot of internal damage and you can’t even press on the bed too hard. He doesn’t even want to go to the toilet because he is so scared to be alone,” she said.
Hospital spokeswoman Angelique Jordaan confirmed that Sadick remained in a serious but stable condition.
Once discharged he will be treated at the Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre.
Last Thursday, the alleged shooter, Thabiet Basardien, 29, appeared briefly in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court.
With a list of previous convictions, Basardien remains in custody.
A furious Stemmet said the shooting continued on Christmas morning.
“The gangsters claimed they would stop the fighting for Christmas time, but they just carried on. When will it stop? Now our children become victims.”
janis.kinnear@inl.co.za
Weekend Argus