Despite the odds stacking against him, Thinus van Wyk was able to survive a spinal cord injury and still thrive in his life and career
A life-changing injury on a rugby field in Namibia and the harrowing ordeal that followed saw Thinus van Wyk go to hell and back almost 30 years ago. Through remarkable resolve and an unwavering support system, he overcame one obstacle after another and is living a healthy and happy life.
At just 16, Thinus broke his neck while playing tighthead prop for Hoër Tegniese Skool Windhoek against a combined Walvis Bay-Swakopmund team on 11 June 1997.
“I was too strong in the scrums, and the opposition coach was getting desperate to avoid penalties, so he basically took the largest guy on their team, the eighth man, to scrum against me. From the first scrum against him, it was clear to me that he’d never played prop before,” he recalls. “The sad part is that if there had been any paramedics present, I could still have been walking today since what happened was preventable.”
“The bulk of the damage to my spine occurred when, after the second or third reset of a scrum from collapsing on impact, I felt heat shooting from my neck into my back and shoulders, and it took me a while to get up,” he adds.
“If any medical personnel were present, they would’ve seen I could barely walk straight, but being a fourth-degree brown belt in karate and Namibian under-16 rugby player, I succumbed to pride and pressure, and slowly made my way towards the next scrum … my last,” Thinus shares.
“It was instantaneous …the eighth man gave me another short shoulder on my head. The impact was so hard that my C7 vertebra slid over my C6, cutting the power switch to the rest of my body. It turned out that no neck braces or stretchers were loaded onto the bus, and the match was played in Karibib, one of the smallest towns in Namibia, which had no medical centre at that stage,” he explains.
“While arrangements for an airplane were being made, my coach cut up an old mattress and bystanders found planks to make a makeshift stretcher and did what they thought best, which was to carry me into the back of a bakkie to get me out of the cold,” Thinus says.
“The plane had landed and the paramedics were on site, but the state ambulance called to transfer me to the airport from Usakos hadn’t even left yet. By this time, the few ‘golden hours’ to administer cortisone to minimalise the swelling had passed, and my hand and arm functioning had deteriorated significantly,” he shares.
“After the ambulance finally arrived, I was loaded into the plane and heavily sedated. It turns out my lungs collapsed and I picked up some type of flu. When I was finally stable enough, I woke up in Mediclinic Windhoek ICU with more pipes going in and out of me than a nuclear power plant.”
“My parents later got me a bed at then- Libertas Hospital and my mom and I, along with another lady, were loaded into a small medical plane headed for Cape Town. I deteriorated so badly that I lost consciousness or had to be sedated, I’m not certain.”
“It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as what followed earned the pilot and crew international recognition. One of the worst storms in history hit Cape Town. The wind was so strong that, when the pilot miraculously landed the plane, airport staff had to come out to hold it steady long enough to be safely offloaded,” he continues.
“Just when I thought the worst was over, I started getting extreme fever spikes, so bad that my eyes would roll back into my head and I’d lose consciousness. After a few days, the fever finally passed and I was moved to the rehab centre.”
After returning home in October, an incredibly determined Thinus went on to complete matric and become an integral member of the Geka Pharma team, which he joined in 2001.
“I do telephonic and e-mail sales. I work via VPN and my IP phone is also directly connected to the main switchboard. I moved up to middle management for a few years, but put in a request to work from home a few years ago, so I resigned my managerial duties at that time,” Thinus shares.
Outside of work, he lives a full life: “My major passions are hunting, fishing and modifying cars, and I love experimenting with ways to prepare and cook meat. I have built quite a few smokers and a gigantic pizza oven.”
A grateful Thinus concludes by praising the pillars that have held him up since his injury: “I wouldn’t have made it or achieved a quarter of what I have without my family. Doctors told my parents that I would be bedridden for the rest of my life, but they refused to accept that. They made turns so that one of them was always present during my rehab process, and every day since.”
“The Chris Burger Petro Jackson Players’ Fund has also played a crucial role in my life. They’ve been there from day one, and my life would’ve turned out very different without them,” Thinus says.
