Over the weekend, news broke that convicted murderer and former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius had been rushed to hospital with wrist injuries.
South Africa‘s City Press reported that prison guards and hospital warders had given a statement saying that Pistorius had “bad cuts” over his wrists, and that blades had been found in his cell after the incident.
One reportedly told the paper, “he had bad cuts on his wrists and the doctors kept wrapping bandages around them”.
However, Manelisi Wolela, a spokesperson for the prison service, has made a statement to media saying that the incident was not a case of self-harm, and that Pistorius just had “minor injuries on his wrists”.
“Oscar Pistorius denied speculations of a suicide attempt,” Mr Wolela said.
His brother Carl Pistorius also spoke to press, saying he and his girlfriend had visited him in hospital and all reports of self-harm or a suicide attempt were untrue and “sensational”:
“Jenna and I have just seen Oscar and he is doing well given the circumstances. He was in good spirit.He slipped in his cell and injured himself, nothing serious.”
Arnold Pistorius, the ex-athlete’s uncle (whose home he stayed in while on parole), said his nephew simply had “a couple of bruises, no plasters or bandages”.
“He was joking how he slipped on the wet floor, while on his stumps, grabbed the small cabinet on wheels to balance, but it also slipped away and he fell.”
Another prison source has also confirmed this to the Daily Mail, saying that Pistorius lost balance on his stumps and slipped while under the influence of a sleeping pill.
“He got up in the night to use the toilet in his cell. He claims he slipped in some leaked water, lost his balance and fell against a drawer, cutting his lower forearm, and also hit his head.His injuries were inspected by a nurse on the hospital wing and it was decided that he should go to hospital and be checked out.The worry was mainly for the impact to his head.”
Pistorius is currently jailed in South Africa for the murder of his former girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. He’ll be eligible for release on parole in 2019.
Source: The Age.
Photo: Pool / Getty.
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