A mother is demanding answers after a school gate fell on her seven-year-old daughter, nearly crushing her to death.
Lynnet Kok says her daughter, Shariske Kok, is lucky to be alive after the huge metal gate fell on top of her at Cascade Primary School in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain on Tuesday afternoon.
According to witnesses, the Grade 1 learner was sitting close to the school’s exit when the 1.8m x 5m sliding gate fell on her back.
The incident occurred shortly after 1pm as school was coming out.
It’s alleged that two other learners had been playing on the palisade gate, pushing it back and forth before it became unhinged from its railing and fell on Shariske who was sitting close by.
The meisie was rushed to Red Cross Hospital where she is being treated for injuries to her back, head and face.
Her mother tells the Daily Voice she was fetched by one of the employees from the school who informed her about the incident.
“Luckily when the gate hit her she had been sitting down and had her backpack on so it cushioned the fall.
“The impact pushed her to her stomach leaving her with a cut on her head and has nine stitches on it; she has some more gashes on her lips and one on her hip.
“She can barely walk now from the pain on the hip, doctors kept her so that she can heal first before discharging her.”
Lynnet says the school principal Gail Adriaanse must explain how her daughter got injured.
“I was very emotional when I heard about this, I did not want to believe that this happened to a child who was meant to be supervised, and one sends their children to school and expects them to come back in one piece.”
Spokesperson for the MEC for Education, Jessica Shelver, confirmed the incident.
“The Principal was at the hospital with the mother [yesterday] and it is reported that the learner is in a stable condition and should be discharged [yesterday].”