Cape Town - The Manenberg boy who survived a gang bullet has learnt to walk again.
Devonte Terry, 6, was shot on February 4 while playing with his friends.
The shooting left 17-year-old Berto Nathan Mitas dead and the Grade R learner wounded.
He was in a coma for a few weeks and his mother Simone was told her son would not be able to walk.
“He was moved from Red Cross Memorial Hospital to St Joseph’s Home for chronically ill children. He was admitted at the beginning of April, he was in a wheelchair at the time. He was sent there for physiotherapy as his legs stopped working and also his arm was not working properly.”
The mother said she had faith that her son would walk again.
“Everything with him is fine. He can talk and has expressed that he wants to be home and he doesn’t want me to leave his side, but the nurses explained to him that he has to stay there,” she said.
The Sonderend Primary School learner spent his sixth birthday alone in hospital.
“The nurses advised that I stay away for a few days so he could get used to the people at the new hospital. Sadly, that meant that we couldn’t be there for his birthday but we made up for it when we could go visit him.”
Three months after the shooting a video of Devonte was shared on the Western Cape Gang Watch WhatsApp group.
The 8-second clip showed the boy walking while leaning on a wooden panel and then he walks unassisted, wearing a big smile on his face.
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said three men were arrested for murder and attempted murder.
“Three males aged 19, 24 and 26 were arrested and charged for the murder of the 17-year-old boy and the attempted murder of the five-year-old boy.
“The three males were granted bail in the Athlone Magistrates’ Court and will appear again on June14.”
The 6-year-old boy was playing with his friends when suspects fired shots at him and killed the 17-year-old on February 4.
His relatives heard gunshots ringing outside after a grey VW Golf with a black roof drove past and shots were fired from the vehicle.
His uncle said he ran outside to Thames Avenue and rushed the wounded child to the nearby day hospital.
A few metres from where the child’s blood stained the street, Berto was declared dead at the scene.
The teen was struck as he was warning others about the shooters.
The Grade R learner’s family rushed him to hospital while the bullet was thought to be stuck in his head.