A car guard told a court how he was robbed at knife point and then flung into the road by his attacker, only to be hit by an oncoming car.
His wife and stepson watched helplessly as the driver of the vehicle drove away.
Several major surgeries later, Richard Smith, 43, continues to walk with a debilitating limp – the motivation behind his R1.7m claim against the Road Accident Fund (RAF).
Taking the stand in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday, Smith testified to the nightmarish sequence of events on May 3 2016.
Judge Mandela Makaula reserved judgment.
Smith, originally from Durban, had been staying in Port Elizabeth for about three months prior to the accident.
He had been working at Moffett on Main shopping centre as a car guard.
On the afternoon of May 3, Smith, his wife Carol and her 16-year-old son made their way to Vistarus in Sydenham to seek shelter.
While resting on the barrier of the N2, they were approached by three men, one armed with a knife.
Led by advocate Dean Niekerk, Smith said: “One of the men tried to stab me.
“I defended myself and he threw me into oncoming traffic,” Smith said.
“I was hit by a car. I can’t remember what happened next because I blacked out.
“When I woke up, I was lying in the middle of the road and two men were trying to help me.”
In defending the claim on behalf of the RAF, advocate Neil Paterson said this was by no means an ordinary case.
He said Smith had been negligent, being on the side of a freeway.
He had also entered the N2 roadway at a time when it was dangerous and inopportune.
Smith was taken to Livingstone Hospital by ambulance.
He sustained an open fracture of the left femur, among other injuries, and underwent several operations. On May 18 2016, due to a large area of bone loss, he had to have a bone graft. He spent three more months in hospital.
According to court papers, he still suffers immense pain in both legs and is, as a result, unable to work.
It was anticipated that he would have to undergo further medical procedures and may need to be admitted to a nursing home at a later stage.
Paterson told Smith that it had been illegal for him to be on the side of the busy freeway in the first place.
While motorists had a general duty to keep a lookout for pedestrians, he said, according to Smith’s own evidence he had been flung into the oncoming car, giving the driver little time to brake or swerve.
Paterson said the N2 had a 120km/h speed limit, and since the driver would not have expected to see someone on the freeway, there was not much he could have done to avoid the collision.
Carol testified that the driver had been an elderly man with spectacles. She said he sped away after hitting her husband. Other motorists stopped to assist.
“Two men carried him out of the road and a third called an ambulance,” she said.
Mandela will give judgment on the merits of the case only.
If he finds the RAF liable, the issue of quantum will then be argued.
Smith is claiming R1.7m in respect of general damages, past and future medical expenses, as well as loss of earnings and earning capacity.