MOSSELBAAI NUUS - When Hans Potgieter had to make an emergency landing with the aircraft he was piloting on 14 December 2014, his young bride Sharon merely secured her seat belt and simply knew he would get them safely on the ground. Never once did she fear catastrophe.
The emergency landing has, however, changed their lives and they have since had to relocate to Malmesbury to be closer to the rehabilitation centre where Sharon is receiving rehabilitative treatment for an injury to her back.
"Only when Hans told me to get out of the aircraft and I could not move my legs, did I realise that something was wrong," says Sharon.
Since the accident, she had to spend two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit of the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. She was then transferred to the Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre, where she received seven weeks of treatment and training to learn to walk again and to cope with a wheelchair.
"From being paralysed from the waist down, I have regained feeling from the waist to my knees. My feet are still motionless, but I can walk with the aid of braces on my ankles and a walking frame. The doctor has told me that if they don't recover within a two-year period, they will remain as they are now," Sharon said when asked about her prognosis.
Considering that they were newlyweds when the emergency landing occurred, Sharon says the incident has made their bond stronger than it ever was.
"I was transferred from George to Cape Town the day after the accident with the AMS aircraft. I will never lose my passion for Aviation. What I have learnt since then was that people in general need to look to their roots and where we come from and by whose Grace we are here.
"The general consensus of a disabled person is that if you are disabled, you suddenly are stupid and cannot think or talk for yourself," Sharon told the Mossel Bay Advertiser.
"I have also noticed that there are a lot of dis-abled people in Mossel Bay - and other towns - who 'miraculously can walk' once they have parked in the parking bays marked for disabled people."
Sharon admits that it's very frustrating to not be able to do the things she used to as before the incident.
"I hate having to ask for help. Hans and our children have been extremely helpful and not-hing is ever to much for them to do for me. I am truly blessed to have them in my life."
Sharon would like to thank all the Emergency Medical Services, Fire Brigade staff and the people from the farm who have assisted them for their prompt response and the care they gave them. She also has only praises for the Air Ambulance that flew her to Cape Town for further medical treatment.
Click on the links below for previous articles.
Pasgetroudes oorleef noodlanding 
Sharon and Hans Potgieter recently had to leave Mossel Bay to be closer to medical treatment at the only rehabilitation center for the kind of injuries Sharon sustained in the Western Cape in Cape Town.Photo: Supplied
ARTICLE: NICKEY LE ROUX, MOSSEL BAY ADVERTISER JOURNALIST.
'We bring you the latest Mossel Bay, Garden Route news'
