Johannesburg - After spending over two weeks in the hospital and seeing other victims of the Boksburg tanker explosion die in front of his eyes, Elvis Philander says he is grateful that he made it out alive from the Boksburg tanker explosion, which continues to claim lives almost daily.
On December 24, just after 7am, Philander and his frantic wife Bernadine Philander quickly dashed out of their Boksburg home to look for their children when they heard the first blast after an LPG trucker got stuck under the bridge, a mere 100 metres from Tambo Memorial Hospital.
After realising that the children were not at the scene of the blast, he and his wife quickly made their way back home. However, just a few seconds later, another explosion went off, resulting in their injuries. He says after hearing the blast, he told his wife to run, but when he saw her fall down, he turned back and held her hand to make sure she was safe.
His wife was burned in the lower parts of her body, including her legs and back, while he suffered burns to his neck, arms, and legs. The trip home was an agonising mix of pain, agony, and sheer guts as they arrived to find their children home.
"We went to look for the children so that we can go home, suddenly, a big bang went off, and when we looked back, we saw a big fire like an inferno, and I told her to run, but the fire went further on and caught us eventually," he said.
Philander said even though they were not near the explosion, the fire from it was so explosive that they were burned and only managed to survive due to the distance they were from the blast.
"We were very far from the explosion, but the fire caught us. I just imagine those who were much closer to the explosion as to what happened to them ... it was a scary sight to realise what had happened. They had no chance of survival," he said.
He said it scares him that some of the people who were admitted with him at the Pholosong Hospital did not make it out alive, adding that from the group of patients who were with them, only he and his wife are still alive.
He said that on Monday, the same day he was discharged from the hospital, he learned that one of the patients who had arrived with him had died.
On Monday, the Department of Health confirmed that one more person had succumbed to their wounds, bringing the total number of fatalities to 38.
"It is scary to think that only me and my wife are still alive from the same group we were admitted with. Some of the people who were admitted with me at the hospital did not make it," he added.
He said at first they went to the hospital on their own with the help of a friend’s car. However, they could not immediately access help and went to the pharmacy to buy medical supplies. They subsequently took it upon themselves to buy medical supplies, and only later were the paramedics able to help.
"As we came back from the pharmacy and eventually paramedics started recruiting, and it was only then that they started helping us," he told The Star.
At the time of the visit, his wife was not home as she had an appointment at the hospital.
The Star