Critical condition for Fish Hoek athlete Moira Harding after Comrades Marathon incident
Moira Harding, was found on Mahatma Gandhi (formerly Point) Road in Durban on Monday morning after going missing on Sunday June 8.
Image: Comrades Marathon Facebook page
Fish Hoek Athletics Club (FHAC) member Moira Harding, 54, is in a critical condition in an Umhlanga hospital after she wandered off and went missing after completing the Comrades Marathon on Sunday.
Athletics club clubhouse manager, Andre Blom, said Harding had been wearing an "in case of emergency" rubber bracelet with her emergency contact details when she was found.
He said thanks to the information on the bracelet, her husband had been contacted.
IOL reported that a missing persons report was filed after friends and family were unable to locate her following her 5pm race finish, prompting a full-scale search.
Police in KwaZulu-Natal are piecing together the circumstances around her initial disappearance.
She was later found by staff from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), in Durban's Point Waterfront area.
Garrith Jamieson, spokesperson at ALS Paramedics, said they received multiple calls just after 7am on Monday morning.
He said paramedics, together with police Search and Rescue and Metro Police Search and Rescue proceeded to the end of Point Road near the NSRI base.
"On arrival paramedics found the critically injured runner lying on the side of the jetty.
"Immediately, Advanced Life Support paramedics worked to stabilise the runner at the scene before the decision was made to bring in an aeromedical helicopter to rapidly transport the patient to a hospital for the urgent care that she required," Jamieson said.
KZN police spokesperson, Robert Netshiunda, said officers were investigating the incident.
"The woman is currently in hospital and although she was found with no visible injuries, police will await the medical report, which will determine police's next course of action," he said.
Blom, who is also the chairperson of the Fish Hoek Community Policing Forum (CPF) said the forum will soon launch "in case of emergency" bracelets in the area.
"It is essential for runners, hikers and cyclists as well as the elderly," he said.
Blom said the club wished Harding a speedy recovery and was keeping her in its prayers.
Cape Argus