Doctor fighting for life after attack

A WELL-KNOWN Windhoek-based ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr Johnnie van Tonder, had to undergo a total of nine hours of surgery at the Roman Catholic Hospital on Thursday and Friday after being viciously attacked by an unknown assailant.

Van Tonder’s family described his survival as a “miracle”. According to his son Gideon van Tonder, who is also a doctor, his father was cycling on a farm close to Avis in Windhoek on Thursday afternoon at around 17h00 when he was attacked.

On his way into one of the main roads on the farm, a well-dressed man approached him, signaling to him to stop.

The man demanded his watch and cellphone and then fiercely attacked him with a knife. “He stabbed him for death,” Van Tonder Jr said.

He said his father managed to fight back and escaped on his bicycle. “He realised that he needed to get to people as he was losing a lot of blood. A large vein was punctured,” said Van Tonder.

En route to the main gate, he lost consciousness twice due to the blood loss and later tied his shirt around his arm in an attempt to minimise the blood loss. Close to a kraal toward the main gate, he could not carry on any further and leaned on his bike.

It was from there that a woman who was walking her dogs heard his cries for help. She phoned a private ambulance service, but they refused to send out someone unless they knew who would settle the bill.

Despite informing them who the patient was, they maintained that they needed clarity on payment,Van Tonder Jr said. The good Samaritan then went to her car and drove it to where the 61-year-old doctor was lying and drove him to the casualty ward of the Roman Catholic Hospital in Windhoek.

“He lost a huge amount of blood and it is a miracle that he made it,” Van Tonder Jr said.

Following Thursday’s surgery, Dr Johnnie van Tonder had to be sped back to theatre on Friday after a blood clot was detected in his arm. “He spent Thursday evening and Friday in the intensive care unit before he was moved to an ordinary ward,” his son said.

Van Tonder Jr said he did not grow up in a city where someone was stabbed to death over a cellphone. “Enough is enough. We Namibians are not like that and will have to cooperate to stop this,” he said.

Meanwhile, despite numerous visits to the police station, Van Tonder Jr was told he cannot press charges on his father’s behalf. He was informed that his father needs to do that himself when he is strong enough.

On behalf of the family, Van Tonder Jr expressed his appreciation for the support they received following the attack on his father.

Contacted for comment, police spokesperson chief inspector Kauna Shikwambi and the Khomas regional crime investigation coordinator, deputy commissioner Silvanus Nghishidimbwa, said they knew nothing about the incident.