Tini and Dirk decked and shattered their heel and wrist respectively - April May 2009

The sharp end proved a little to sharp for Tini Versveld who fell and hit the deck when a foot hold broke while attempting a direct variation of the last pitch of La Vida on Fountain Ledge TM on Saturday 9 May 09. Despite his candid and considered opinion of himself that he felt like a "right heel" it was actually his left calcaneus (heel bone) that was shattered and that required surgical re-assembly yesterday.

He is laid up but remains un-laid and lonely with his heel encased in a plaster cast and elevated on pillows at the UCT Private Academic hospital. So call him or sms him. Send me a PM for his cell phone number or make a post here and I shall print and take it to him or forward it.

Tini was just coming back into his own and was warming up for a red-point of his test piece "No Longer at Ease" 25. He recently ticked Sanitorium 25.

He has led a charmed life on trad being a bold climber on lead. This is his first injury other than bruises and scrapes in about 35 years' of climbing. This accident comes hot on the heels (sic!) of his brother Dirk's shattered wrist after he pulled a cam aiding a route called Bowstring on the lower buttresses of TM just 2 weeks ago!