Sprinter Oscar Pistorius was conscious and ready to
be discharged from the Milpark Hospital following a boating accident, a paramedic said on Sunday.
Pistorius sustained minor injuries to his face the accident on the Vaal River, south of Johannesburg, on Saturday night.
”He is fine. His brain is functioning normally and he is 100% conscious. He will soon be discharged,” said Dr Anchen Laubscher.
Laubscher, who was among paramedics who treated Pistorius following the accident at 8pm, was briefing the media at the Milpark Hospital in Parktown West, Johannesburg.
”He was involved in a minor boat accident. He was stabilised at the scene before being airlifted to Milpark and handed over to the trauma unit. He suffered minor facial injuries, bruises and lacerations,” she said.
Having spoken to Pistorius shortly before the briefing, Laubscher said the sprinter told her he was fine and thanked everyone for their interest.
Pistorius’ manager, Peet van Zyl, told reporters that the 22-year-old star was travelling with a friend — identified as John — at a normal speed when the accident occurred.
He said Pistorius’ relatives were in another boat at the time.
The man, also known as the ”Blade Runner” was born without his fibulas, or calf bones, and had to have both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11-months-old.
He won a legal battle to compete against able bodied athletes last year after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in May 2008 overturned objections by the International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) to keep him off the track.
This was after the IAAF concluded that his carbon-fibre prosthetic racing blades would give him an unfair advantage over other athletes.
Despite achieving a personal best of 46,25 seconds in the 400m prior to the Olympics, he was over the required qualification time of 45,55 seconds.
However, Pistorius has since then won gold medals at the 2008 Paralympics in the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints. He also holds the world record in all three events. – Sapa