Africa Wild

Rebecca Desmet
Dad had a good post-op day, and the docs are happy with his stable condition, but there is still a long road ahead. He is still on the ventilator and sedated, but they have reduced the sedation and the muscle relaxant and he has responded to people's voices.

It was also announced today that Andrew Desmet, the Letaba Section Ranger who was seriously injured in a shooting incident in the Kruger National Park on 24 May 2013, continues to make progress after undergoing a second medical procedure in hospital. He was shot during a joint anti-rhino poaching operation with the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in the Letaba region of the KNP. Mr Desmet is in a stable condition but remains in the Intensive Care Unit of a Nelspruit medical facility.

Investigations into the circumstances of the incident in which Mr Desmet suffered his injury are on-going, although initial findings have confirmed that he was injured by SANDF fire during the joint operation with the SANDF. SANParks head of anti-poaching operations, Major General (Ret) Johan Jooste, confirmed that the incident happened during a joint operation, but advised against drawing any conclusions as the circumstances are still being investigated by the South African Police Service.

"We are all praying for Andrew, and are looking forward to seeing him on the road to recovery. He is not yet able to give us his view on what led to this unfortunate incident. We hope he will soon be able to shed further light on what happened but we would like to caution against unnecessary speculation pending the completion of the investigations," concluded Jooste.

Rebecca Desmet: Thanks for all the support everyone!!!!!!!!! The doctors have postponed the surgery until Thursday because they are worried that his wound will go septic. Let us pray and hope that nothing will prevent it from happening on Thursday.

Rebecca Desmet: Today is 3 weeks since Andrew has been in the hospital! Amazing. Things are looking good at the moment. Andrew has been opening his eyes and is responding to what you say. He is still on the ventilator and cannot talk yet. The doctors have not said when they will operate again but it might be a while still. Thank you once again for all the support, concern and well wishes, it is all very much appreciated.