A Cape Town woman who injured her throat at a vuvuzela blowing competition said on Friday that she was on the mend.
“It took about two days to heal, by Monday I was feeling fine,” said Yvonne Mayer, an employee of Old Mutual Finance in Pinelands.
“I just hope there is no permanent damage, but it doesn’t seem like it.”
Mayer ruptured part of her throat after taking part in a vuvuzela blowing competition last Friday.
She and her husband, Ronald, had walked through the streets of Cape Town to enjoy the atmosphere before the opening game. When she and a group of people held the competition, her throat started burning.
“I just thought I was getting sick,” she said.
After the match, her throat started burning even more.
It felt as if a bubble had become stuck in her windpipe, she said.
The next day she went to the doctor.
“The doctor was really enjoying it, he just kept laughing at me and said it was his first vuvuzela injury,” said Mayer.
“The only thing he was concerned about was an infection, but he took some blood tests.”
Dr Scott Barker of Netcare Blaauberg Hospital said the continuous blowing after the initial tear had resulted in the wound becoming bigger.
Mayer said she suspected she had blown the instrument incorrectly.
She admitted that she was now “a bit nervous” about blowing the vuvuzela again, and would rather try to master the technique first. — Sapa