Heroic veld fire rescue
Heroic veld fire rescue
05 October 2012
published by www.you.co.za
Namibia –– The blonde Australian woman guards the San hunters hospital bed here in Windhoek like a protective tigress. But when she softly strokes the pink scabs on his face he cant help but chuckle.
When you hear their story you realise why their bond is so strong it was literally forged by fire.
The woman is Jane Bean (52), a tourist. And if it werent for Cgunta G/aqo (40), the man in the hospital bed, and four other San of the Ju/hoansi tribe, she probably wouldve perished in a veld fire while on holiday in Namibia.
Three of the men, all Cguntas relatives, didnt survive after shielding Jane from the flames with their bodies. The fifth, Cguntas brother, Bertus G/aqo, escaped with less serious injuries than his brother.
Its a month later and Jane, an official of the charity Oxfam, shouldve returned to Australia by now but shes postponed her departure to watch over her rescuer in a Windhoek private hospital.
Read more of Alet van Zyls article in YOU 11 October 2012.