Doctors 'satisfied' with fire victims' progress

The famous plastic surgeon and burn specialist from Tygerberg Hospital near Cape Town, Dr Wayne Kleintjies, says he is ready to help with the treatment of two Rehoboth fire victims if the specialists who are currently treating them would approach him.Kleintjies, head of this hospital&#039;s unit for adults with burns, grew up in Rehoboth.He gained international fame in 2015 when he developed a technique to grow skin harvested from a patient in an incubator that is then transplanted onto the patient. It was a world first.Last Wednesday, Rehoboth mayor Enrico Junius and a friend were rushed to the hospital after sustaining serious burns.Junius and Quinton Diergaardt were engulfed in flames on the former&#039;s farm, Waldesruhe, south of Rehoboth.Workers were welding a farm gate when sparks ignited the grass. The wildfire spread to several other farms.Ready to assistIn a telephone interview on Sunday, Kleintjies told Namibia Media Holdings that the plan was for Junius and Diergaardt to be transported to Tygerberg on Thursday, but as there were no beds available at that stage, he arranged for them to be taken to the Louis Leipoldt hospital where he would treat them.However, this message did not reach the specialist at the Roman Catholic hospital in Windhoek in time, and arrangements had already been made to take them on an emergency flight to the Life Kingsbury Hospital in Cape Town.The mayor&#039;s wife, Cecilia Junius, on Sunday said the doctors are satisfied with her husband and Diergaardt&#039;s progress."Every day there is a little progress. The doctor says as long as the vitals and organs are 100%, they are not worried."They only guard against infection," she said.Intensive treatmentKleintjies said the two men are currently in the intensive care unit of Life Kingsbury Hospital and their condition is critical, but stable. Junius suffered 60% burns and Diergaardt 55%.They are being treated by lung specialists, internists, and kidney specialists."Depending on how deep the burns are, infection control can be a challenge," he said.He explained that burn victims&#039; lung and kidney function are carefully monitored.Moisture loss due to open skin wounds is often a problem and therefore a patient&#039;s kidneys must be monitored.He explained that points are assigned to patients according to the severity index for burns, and their prognosis can be determined accordingly.A point is awarded for every 10% of burns on the body. The higher the point on the index, the worse the prognosis, Kleintjies said.Farmers, volunteers, the town&#039;s fire brigade, and officials from the town council, as well as the Namibian police, fought tirelessly for five days to bring the giant wildfire, driven by strong winds, under control.– ronelle@republikein.com.na

Doctors 'satisfied' with fire victims' progress

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

Please login to leave a comment

Doctors 'satisfied' with fire victims' progress

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

Please login to leave a comment

Login