MOSSEL BAY NEWS - After two operations and more than 12 days in hospital, well-known Mossel Bay resident Kelly Fourie (32) is recovering after a horrific accident during a routine NSRI exercise near De Bakke Beach.
The accident took place six weeks ago on 2 June, while Fourie and another NSRI member were on a JetRib rescue craft.
Extremely bad Fourie explains: "The weather was extremely bad and the sea, rough. We had other NSRI vessels on the water and a trainee coxswain and I were on the JetRib, practising in the surf."
She said a wave approached and they went over it, but when they came down, her left foot had come out of the foot strap. "We caught some air at the back of the swell. I pressed down with my body weight to prevent the JetRib capsizing backwards, not knowing that one foot had come loose."
Force
The force of the JetRib coming up out of the water after having landed on its right side met with the downcoming force of Fourie's full body weight and it was then that she suffered multiple fractures. The landing also resulted in the kill switch coming out, leaving the rescue vessel dead in the water.
Because of her fractures, Fourie asked the trainee coxswain if she could beach the vessel, but she said she was not comfortable doing so. Fourie then had to proceed to restart the vessel and navigate through the surf with her broken leg to beach the vessel.
Kelly Fourie
Having safely beached the vessel, she immediately put through an emergency call to her fellow NSRI crew, who responded swiftly, and upon arriving on the scene splinted her leg and safely transferred her to the ambulance.
Prognosis
Fourie broke her tibia, fibula and shattered her ankle.
Doctors have told her it will take between a year and 18 months for a full recovery. Pins were inserted in her leg, and she is still undergoing intensive physiotherapy. Ever since the accident she has had to bear what she describes as "excruciating and relentless" pain.
Speaking to the Mossel Bay Advertiser this week, Fourie said: "Each day is a beautiful new day, a fresh start. That is a belief I have maintained since day one, and which I still hold on to as true."
Fourie says: "Although they start beautiful and fresh, some days have meant me crying continuously until I was sure my tears would run out. My entire body, not just my leg, begs for mercy and to be set free from the situation I find myself in."
Fourie's leg is currently in a moon boot, and she uses crutches. "I've adapted my work life to suit me and not the other way round, which is very new to me. I've started attending my NSRI station's weekly meetings again and I'll be hopping on a plane to attend an NSRI board meeting, AGM and station commanders' conference in Durban at the weekend.
"I have been humbled by this accident and I treasure every lesson, every ounce of growth, that has come from it. One more thing is for sure, I haven't lost sight of the day I will be back at sea, at the helm of an NSRI rescue craft." Fourie joined NSRI Station 15 in Mossel Bay in 2019 and obtained crew status in 2020.
She achieved coxswain status in 2023 and has served as deputy station commander since 1 September 2023. She is also a practising attorney in Mossel Bay.
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