[ad_1]
Nick bester
Roger Sedres / Gallo Images
- Legendary local triathlete Nick Bester is out of intensive care after his brutal attack over the weekend.
- The news comes as no surprise to fellow champion comrades Bruce Fordyce, who once again praised his close friend’s fighting spirit.
- Fordyce expresses sadness at the lack of safety for South Africans who exercise outdoors.
Comrades legend Nick bester is making steady progress after surviving a brutal assault over the weekend.
The 60-year-old former Springbok triathlete, who spent all Sunday in the intensive care unit at Eugene Marais Hospital in Pretoria after receiving a blow to the head with a stone and suffering three broken ribs and a broken cheekbone, has been transferred to superior care.
“It’s the hospital’s intensive care cardio unit,” said Bester’s son Shaun-Nick. Sport24 Monday.
“So it’s not the general pavilion yet, but it’s still a positive development. Things have definitely improved.”
First-hand family visits, however, remain an option for the versatile athlete due to Covid-19 restrictions in the hospital.
News of Bester’s improving condition will come as no surprise to compatriot Bruce Fordyce, one of his biggest rivals on the road.
“Nick is a tough nut to crack,” said the nine-time Camaradas record champion. Sport24.
“It’s awful what happened to him. No one should go through something like this, but I have every confidence in the world that he will get over it.
Bester, who won the 1991 edition of the famous local ultramarathon and also won gold at the Dusi Canoe Marathon in addition to being an Ironman champion, was attacked while training for a Covid-19 fundraising event near the Mabopane Highway.
According to his son, Shaun-Nick, he was stripped of his clothes and managed to call for help by sliding backwards down Magaliesberg Mountain towards a fence on the outskirts.
“Apparently he said he was ambushed from behind. I’m planning to have a chat with him later, but that must have been the case because you’re not facing Nick,” Fordyce said.
“Nick is a former parabat (parachute battalion) soldier so he definitely knows how to handle himself. I have never come across a tougher competitor.
“We were staunch rivals when we hit the road, but off the road we’ve been close friends for years.”
Fordyce, who was attacked at gunpoint and had running shoes and a watch stolen in 2017, lamented the apparent lack of security for South Africans exercising outdoors.
“It’s quite sad that we have to be so conscious of our safety when we go out to train,” he said.
“You can be as prepared as possible, but there comes a point where not much can be done.”
