An American tourist who was robbed and shot in the face in Nyanga last week has been discharged from hospital and plans to spend a few more days in Cape Town.
Also read: American tourist robbed and shot in the face in Nyanga
After being evacuated from a coastal city in Israel where he worked, the 55-year-old Walter Fischel had hoped to visit friends in Simion’s Town.
He was using a GPS navigation device and selected the shortest route to avoid traffic when he was directed to Nyanga from the airport. This is when he was reportedly robbed of his personal belongings, documents and clothing, and shot.
According to TimesLIVE, his sister Valerie created a GoFundMe page titled ‘Help Walter Get Home’ to contribute towards his expenses and a flight back to Connecticut.
Valerie’s daughter Cate wrote the following on the GoFundMe page: ‘Thankfully and miraculously, he is OK and will make a full recovery. However, all of his personal belongings were stolen including his passport, credit cards, and phone.’
‘He was able to obtain a new passport and is expected to be well enough to travel next week, but his accounts have been frozen since the robbery and he is unable to book a flight home. (Not to mention the added cost of flying from South Africa to the US last minute and on the weekend before Thanksgiving.)
‘He is currently out of work and has a family to support along with anticipated medical bills. There’s a lot of stress and uncertainty around this whole situation, but the first step is to get my uncle safely home.’
Fischel was discharged from Rondebosch Medical Centre on Thursday. As per ENCA, he plans to see his friends still and stay for a while for further medical check-ups.
Captain FC van Wyk, spokesperson for the police, confirmed that the provincial serious and violent crimes unit is investigating the incident.
Also read:
Picture: Karolina Grabowska / Pexels
