The team members went to practice just before 05:00 this morning and were on their way back to their accommodation at the Mount View Resort, cycling from the direction of the Garden Route Mall into town.
Ndlodvu and Hwatira cycled together, with Ndlovu in the lead.
According to Ndlovu the accident happened just after the second traffic light coming from the Garden Route Mall, when a sedan vehicle drove into Hwatira from the back, traveling in the same direction into town. Hwatira passed away in ICU at the George MediClinic at about 11:30, shortly before she would have received an operation for two pelvic fractures.
During an interview earlier this afternoon, Ndlovu spoke to the George Herald about the incident. “When I turned around, I saw nothing. I couldn’t see Dorcas. Then, when I looked again, I saw her (wrapped) around a streetlight with her cycle.”
A very emotional Ndlovu told the George Herald she was quickly assisted by the driver of the vehicle, on the scene of the accident. “The car stopped about 500m further, and started to reverse. When the guy got out he began to cry. He kept on saying he didn’t see her. We both went to Dorcas and he started to pray. He also phoned the police and the ambulance. The ambulance arrived first.”
On the scene of the accident, Hwatira, who was conscious, asked her friend to remove her helmet and shoes.
According to Christopher Katore, the team manager, Hwatira sustained multiple injuries, under which two pelvic fractures, abdominal bleeding and a fracture in her shoulder. “Sad things happen,” he said. “The team accepted what happened, but at the time they thought it would be an injury – not death. We got very sad news.”
Ansie Swart, organiser of the Outeniqua Wheelchair Challenge (OCC), is heartbroken about the incident. “It feels like losing one of my own,” she said. “I understand now what Esther meant when she talked about ‘my people’, because they become family.” Ester Watson, the founder of the OCC, died in 2013 of cancer.
Hwatiri also represented her country in wheelchair tennis and was a category winner of the 2013 OCC.
Christopher Katore, manager for the Zimbabwean team, and Thandiwe Ndlovu who cycled in front of the deceased when the accident occurred this morning.
Members of the Zimbabwean wheelchair team. In front from left are Magdalene Madzivire, Margaret Bansajena, Moline Majoni, Daniel Maritz (George deputy mayor) and Caston Mutwira. At the back: Christopher Katore, Samson Muroyiwa, Ansie Swart (OCC director), Pieter Pepler (George Mayor's Office), Vitalis Jeremiah and Abigail Chipatiso.
ARTICLE, VIDEO AND PHOTOS: MICHELLE PIENAAR, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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