Son died saving dad

schumi

schumi

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Durban - ‘Watch out Dad! He’s going to shoot you,” shouted an eManzimtoti man who jumped in front of his father as a gunman fired at him.

Twenty-two-year-old Stephen Coetzee was shot in the head at close range and died soon afterwards at Kingsway Hospital.

“I saw my son’s face contort and heard the gunshot,” Stephen Coetzee senior told the Durban High Court on Monday.

“I had one of the robbers pinned between my car door and the car itself. I left the door and tried to catch my son’s fall. I tried to keep him awake while my fiancée had jumped over our fence to get to our policeman neighbour for help. All our neighbours came through as well. The ambulance took so long to arrive that I loaded my son into the car and took him to hospital where he died,” said the devastated father.

Coetzee senior had told the court they had just bought a new car because they had been victims of a hijacking a few months earlier.

On May 11, 2012, he and his fiancée had just arrived home and were offloading the groceries when he went to the garage to help his son and his son’s friend who were working on a car.

As he walked out of the garage he was confronted by a man with a gun, who held his finger to his lip and told him to keep quiet.

From the corner of his eye, he saw two other men getting into his new car.

“I said ‘not again’ and picked up a torque wrench that was lying on the ground,” he testified. “My son told me in Afrikaans to leave it and that it wasn’t worth it.

I was going to do that when I saw two more men running towards the house. They could’ve taken the car and left. I felt they were going to harm my family who were inside so I flung the wrench at the gunman.”

The gunman apparently jumped into the boot of the car, joining the two other robbers in the car.

The driver then crashed the car into a wall as he was reversing.

Coetzee said he then went after the robbers pinning the passenger between the door and the car.
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More at http://beta.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/son-died-saving-dad-1936741
 
Eish, awful chain of events and what ifs. I hope the criminals are caught soon.
 
:(

Definitely wouldn't attempt to catch a bullet for my father though (or mother). They're old & wouldn't want that at all. Sister on the other hand...no hesitation.
 
HavocXphere said:
:(

Definitely wouldn't attempt to catch a bullet for my father though (or mother). They're old & wouldn't want that at all. Sister on the other hand...no hesitation.
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I don't think anyone could say that without being in the situation. When faced with the danger, instinct just takes over. I'd give my life for some family without hesitation.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
I don't think anyone could say that without being in the situation. When faced with the danger, instinct just takes over. I'd give my life for some family without hesitation.
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Well I've run into a live fire-fight w/ automatic weapons before (with family by my side) and had a loaded gun pointed at me 2-3...so I'm pretty confident I can predict my instincts. That stuff & subsequent restless nights clarified many things on the "catch bullet" front...and as I said...the list is very short.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
I don't think anyone could say that without being in the situation. When faced with the danger, instinct just takes over. I'd give my life for some family without hesitation.
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Was also thinking that.
Once the instinct and adrenaline kick in you don't know how you will react

Very sad though :(
 
This is sad :cry: , though he should have just let the thieves take the car. Cars are replaceable, your family isn't.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
I don't think anyone could say that without being in the situation. When faced with the danger, instinct just takes over. I'd give my life for some family without hesitation.
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yeah, agree there. and to out right say that you won't try and save your parents lives, that's disgusting.
 
Condolences to the family. It must be one of the worst things as a father to watch one of your kids die.
 
All my best to the family.
This is so sad.
If my kid gave her life for mine I would never be able to live with that "guilt"
 
Sad, aggravating, unnecessary, what a wasteful country we are. We have such low value to life. I feel for this man (I have sons and can just imagine how he felt after the loss of his boy).
 
HavocXphere said:
Well I've run into a live fire-fight w/ automatic weapons before (with family by my side) and had a loaded gun pointed at me 2-3...so I'm pretty confident I can predict my instincts. That stuff & subsequent restless nights clarified many things on the "catch bullet" front...and as I said...the list is very short.
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My condolences. The restless nights really aren't fun.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
I don't think anyone could say that without being in the situation. When faced with the danger, instinct just takes over. I'd give my life for some family without hesitation.
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The real question is why do you even have to?
Why do people have to live in a country where your life and your family's life is at risk every moment.
Why do you have to prepare your mindset to react when something happens.
My heart goes out to this kids family and this tragic tragic event.

I am thankful that I can live life in a country far far away from South Africa where my biggest fear is not criminals, but rather how unhealthy i am eating.
 
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