This news followed Peter-John Hassard having had to spend over 5 weeks in an induced coma after he was shot and critically wounded by still unknown attackers in what was suspected to have been an unsuccessful hit put out on his life by vengeful rhino poachers in the northern Zululand area.
On the Facebook page, Hassard’s sister, Sandra Trethewey, wrote that Hassard was now able to personally read all the messages of support sent to him by well-wishers. “PJ is 100 times better than he was on Tuesday when I saw him. He was awake and opened his eyes so I took the opportunity to read all the messages to him on his support page and he looked alongside me on my iPad,” Trethewey posted on the Facebook page. “He will have his own iPad soon and would love to hear from you all.”
Hassard was reportedly instrumental in establishing a private anti-poaching team to assist police and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife tackle rampant rhino poaching in Zululand. The Hassard family suspects that by having this husband and father of three young children killed local rhino poaching syndicate leaders hoped to put a stop to these anti-poaching actions.
“Peter-John received about 16 pints of blood transfusions in only the first 48 hours after he was shot. In total he has had over 30 blood transfusions since he was hospitalised. Doctors are absolutely amazed that he survived,” Trethewey told Farmer’s Weekly.
By the time of publication, the KZN SAPS had not responded to questions on the progress with the investigation into the attempted murder of Hassard.
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