Mhlengi Gwala, a triathlete in South Africa, was riding his bicycle on an ordinary training run early Tuesday when he was attacked by three men he believed were intent on robbing him. He offered them everything he had, but what happened next was utterly horrifying.
The men pulled Gwala into bushes next to a road in Durban, on the eastern coast of South Africa, and tried to cut off his legs with a chain saw in an attack that ended when they could not cut through bone.
“He thought they were coming to rob him, stopped and gave them his phone, but they didn’t want his phone, didn’t want his watch or bicycle,” Sandile Shange, the 26-year-old athlete’s training partner, told the BBC. “They dragged him to the side of the road to some bushes, took a saw and started cutting his legs. They kept on cutting and when they got to the bone, because the saw was not that sharp, the saw got stuck. When they saw it was getting stuck they started on the other leg.”
Gwala, 27, managed to drag himself to safety and underwent surgery after the early-morning attack. “When he spoke to doctors, they said they will be able to save his leg,” Shange said, “and he will be able to walk and run again, but it is a long walk to recovery.” Shange told South Africa’s News24 that doctors had said “the blood flow is good, the only problem is with his tendons.”
Dennis Jackson, director of the Elite Athlete Development program to which Gwala belongs, said the motive for the attack is unclear. “We have spoken with Mhlengi,” he told South Africa’s Timeslive.com. “He is in hospital‚ in the trauma unit of the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital‚ awaiting transfer to another hospital. Our sports doctor has spoken to him. He is conscious.”
The attack stunned Jackson and the South African athletic community.
“I haven’t quite got to grips with exactly what happened. It seems like they pulled him into a bush while he was on a training ride. They had a chain saw and went for one of his legs‚ which is the concerning part. We don’t yet know how far they went in‚ whether they were trying to cut it off‚ or what the circumstances are. All we know is that Mhlengi is alive‚ he is talking and that he is under medical care. We don’t have the whole story as yet.”
Henri Schoeman, South Africa’s 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the triathlon, called the attack “absolutely disgusting” and tweeted that he hopes the incident causes South Africa to “make cycling safer” on the country’s roads.
A friend of mine, cycling in the Durban area was robbed by three people this morning, Then they attempted to saw off both legs with a chainsaw. Blade too blunt and only got half way through one and started on the other. Absolutely disgusting! How safe are we on SA roads?
— Henri Schoeman (@H_Schoeman) March 6, 2018
Donovan Geldenhuys, another South African triathlete, tweeted that Gwala, who was to compete in the South African national championships in two weeks, “a true gentleman. I can’t even imagine this happening. It’s sickening! Praying for him to heal up quick.”
Thinking and praying for Mhlengi Gwala who was attacked by three people while out riding this morning.
Attackers took a chain saw to his leg! He has suffered severe injury to his calf and tibia. #EnoughIsEnoughpic.twitter.com/6hCy7dClQR— Greg Stedman (@GregStedman) March 6, 2018
According to Jackson, Gwala overcame drug and alcohol addiction and represented South Africa at international competitions in Chicago in 2015 and in the Netherlands last year.
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