Ryder Gabathuse
15 September 2008
Francistown — August 17, 2008 will remain indelible in the mind of Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) electrician Gaosepe Pelemo after miraculously escaping the inferno that gutted a company bakkie he had been driving.
It was on a Sunday morning, at around 11am, when Pelemo and a female passenger heard a loud bang from one of the rear tyres. The 33-year-old Mopipi born Pelemo, who is affectionately known as "Defaulter" by his peers, did not know what had hit them as the BPC bakkie lost control and overturned about three times before it rested on the passenger's side and burst into flames.
"I was very lucky to have survived after I unfastened the seat belt which had trapped me," narrates Pelemo from his hospital bed at Riverside Hospital in Francistown.
On the third day of my (the writer's) hospitalisation I found myself sharing a ward with this man who miraculously cheated death. The accident and his escape would later become the talk of Maun village and the sleepy village of Gweta.
"Unfortunately, my woman passenger died in the inferno. I just cannot explain how I escaped because I found myself crawling outside the burning bakkie," Pelemo told me his story of escape with tears running from his eyes.
On arrival at the ward where Pelemo was admitted with another man, I thought I was in the hospital much longer than both of them unaware that having been admitted on August, 25 I was a new admission.
Back to the accident: "When I landed on the tarmac after leaping out of the bakkie, I just heard a loud cry from my companion Kentsenao Segadimo, for the last time," recalls a visibly shaken Pelemo who could not even attempt to move because of the pain from his charred legs.
Every time he narrated his painful story it relieved him from the agony and realisation that his companion had perished in the blaze. Pelemo had left Maun on that fateful day after attending a Performance Management System (PMS) session in the village where he used to work. In fact, he was supposed to have left the previous Friday but there were some delays, so he was forced to wait until Sunday.
He had promised give a lift to Segadimo, a Standard Chartered Bank Maun branch employee, who was to attend a job related meeting in Francistown.
As fate would have it, Pelemo and the now deceased Segadimo later met on Saturday and agreed to travel together the following day. However, they did not reach their destination as they were involved in the horrific accident some 30km from Gweta. "When I heard a loud explosion it was immediately after I had heard my friend (who was trapped inside the vehicle) shouting for help for the last time. I couldn't help because I was totally immobilised by the burns on both legs," he says.
He explains how he suffered the burns: "As I leapt from the bakkie, my legs caught fire, but I was lucky because I was wearing short pants otherwise my whole body would have caught fire." He describes his dive as a "leap of survival."
Although Pelemo is positive about his recovery, he acknowledges the fact that everyday he undergoes pains from the burns. Come dressing time, at the hospital, he would start groaning and wailing but he has been assured that one day he will walk freely.
"Right now I am able to try the crutches at least to put my balance on them so that when I have healed I can walk again. The nurses here and the visiting physiotherapists are doing a wonderful job on my legs," he says.
When everything has been said and done, Pelemo has surrendered himself to his fate and only wishes the wounds would heal quickly so he can continue with his life.
One of his immediate priorities is to find a place of worship, "so that I can thank God for my miraculous escape".
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