A 13-year-old boy was trampled to death in a stampede at the recent Mitchells Plain Festival.
The boy was clinically dead for 10 minutes before he was miraculously brought back to life by a determined firefighter.
Darren Jacobs from Rocklands recovered so well from his ordeal, he was able to attend his sister’s wedding on Saturday.
Young Darren had joined thousands of people at the Westridge Gardens last weekend to enjoy the popular festival with his friends.
He says at the entrance, a huge crowd started pushing, and he remembers falling.
“They were giving people a free pass, and the people behind us just started pushing. I fell and I don’t remember what happened after that. I woke up in hospital,” he told Daily Voice on Sunday.
The station commander of Ottery Fire Station, Mogamat Nazeem Girie, was among the first responders.
Girie says although the boy was already dead, he was not going to give up.
“Darren had succumbed to his injuries. We treated him on the scene and performed CPR on the young boy. After approximately 10 minutes we managed to revive him,” he says.
“The patient has, other than temporary paralysis to his leg, made a remarkable recovery,” says Girie.
The humble hero adds: “I am no hero, I am a parent who lives by the creed: your child is my child. I was never going to let ‘my’ child go without a fight and by the Grace of the Almighty, Darren is still with us.”
Darren’s mom, Louise, says Mr Girie, and a woman only identified as Lameez, sukkeled for 10 minutes to save her son.
“He did not give up. He and Lameez brought my child back to life and I will be forever grateful,” says Louise.
Darren’s father, Johnny, says Darren remained in a coma and was put on life support at Groote Schuur Hospital.
“They told us he would be a vegetable and paralysed for life. They said find him a nurse, because he will never get up again,” says the dad.
“But look at my child, by Monday he was climbing off the hospital bed, ready to come home.”
Festival organiser Rozario Brown insists there was no stempede: “I allowed people to come in for free as I saw what was happening as people pushed from the back. People at the front of the gate were getting hurt and I wanted to alleviate the pressure.”
Darren, who will be in Grade 7 next year at Wavecrest Primary School, is still in pain and struggles to walk.
“I am just glad I could attend my sister’s wedding at the Westridge Gardens, where I died. It was weird being there, I felt very sick, but I am alive,” Darren says, while playing with his mom’s hair.