Miracle as Cape runner survives accident

Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies member and local finance director David King is lucky to be alive after a freak accident while running that almost claimed his life.

As he recovers, King says, “I was being watched over – many miracles occurred on that day.” He’s grateful for a second chance at life, and implores the community not to take anything for granted.

It all began with his decision to start running more seriously at the beginning of 2021. A year later, he was running up to 60km a week and loving it. At the age of 44, he was fitter than ever, and he took off on an early morning run along the magnificent Atlantic Seaboard on the morning of 5 February 2022.

“The last thing I remember is admiring the Antipolis shipwreck that washed ashore recently. The next thing I knew, was in an ambulance, and they were asking me my date of birth.”

It turned out that as he turned around to head back home, he collided with a cyclist going at about 70km per hour. The cyclist was injured, but King was in much worse shape. “I had a fractured skull, fractured ribs, a burst eardrum, and cuts all over. Witnesses say I was lying lifeless on the ground.”

The first miracle of the day occurred when King’s sister’s friend, who had been with King and his family for Shabbat the night before, cycled past in a separate group. Because he had seen him so recently, the friend recognised King, stayed with him – literally holding him – and called his sister. Because of this, King was identified, taken to a private hospital, and given the best care possible. He had no other identification on him and would probably have disappeared into the government hospital system before his family knew where he was.

Doctors also told him that if he hadn’t been so fit, he probably wouldn’t have made it. “They said I could have been in a coma or paralysed.”

At the time, the accident was reported on a Facebook group called “Stay wider of the rider”. In the picture of the scene, you can see that there was no pavement for King to run on to, and he could have landed up on the busy road or even fallen over the side of the barrier down the cliff towards the sea. He emphasises that it was a freak accident, and no one’s fault. He was told that the cyclist shouted “Bike!”, but there was no room for him to move. The cyclist has since kept in touch with King’s sister to check how King is doing.

King spent 12 days in intensive care, which gave him even more appreciation of the fragility of life. “In ICU, you don’t have any freedom, which was really hard,” he says. He shares a video message of him wishing family and friends a good Shabbos, and one can see that he wasn’t fully functional. “Many tears have been shed with family and friends, especially when I was able to video call them,” he says. He’s extremely grateful for the excellent care he received at Vincent Pallotti Hospital.

In hospital, he met people who were paralysed or who had brain cancer. King felt incredibly grateful to be healthy, mobile, and alive. He also met a German patient called Werner. “He asked if I was Jewish. When I said I was, he said, ‘On behalf of the German people, I apologise for what Hitler did to your people during the Holocaust.’”

King says the outpouring of support from the Jewish community was breathtaking, and he’s grateful to be part of a community that truly cares. He’s also grateful to his workplace, CGI Creative Graphics International, which has been incredibly supportive.

He notes that at this time of year, there are more runners and cyclists on Cape roads. Bikers are often training for the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, and runners are pushing themselves ahead of the Two Oceans Marathon. “You hear of these kinds of accidents, but I never imagined it would be me.” While he’s disappointed at the setback to his running, he knows he’ll return to the road, and will never forget that he almost lost the ability to do so. He cautions people always to carry identification while out exercising and to be aware of others, especially in the early morning or late evening light.

He’s still in a lot of pain, and there’s a possibility that he may experience seizures. His burst eardrum means it sounds like everything is underwater. But he’s alive. “I’ve been blessed with a second chance, and I’m going to make the most of it. Some people don’t get that,” King says.

Meanwhile, he’s in the care of his parents, which isn’t easy for a 44-year-old independent guy. Perhaps King is even more blessed because his aunt was late Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ executive director for 20 years, and his parents once took Sacks around Cape Town. Though that’s a story for another day, King feels “someone was definitely watching over me.”

He says has always been guided by the saying, “Tov le’hodot l’Hashem” (It’s good to give thanks to Hashem) “I’m even more thankful now,” he says. “People mustn’t always focus on the negative, but focus on hope. It was a terrible accident, but Hashem has been good to me, miracles do happen, and please G-d, I’ll be fine. I’ll just go forward from here.”