Charity walker shot three times

ERMELO - Marius Scholtz had never done anything like this before in his life, but when he heard about the floods in Hoedspruit he knew he had to somehow help our community. He decided to do a charity walk to Hoedspruit from his home in Ermelo, and set off on this walk on Monday, February 13. He was hoping to walk the approximately 360km to Hoedspruit in 20 days and had gained wide support from the Ermelo community.
  On Tuesday night, he had camped for the night under a tree next to the Carolina road, 13 km from Chrissiesmeer, when three men approached him in an aggressive way. When they asked what he was doing, Marius tried to explain that he was there on a peaceful mission, doing a walk for charity, but the men demanded money and weapons. In the ensuing struggle the weapon which Marius carried for security fell to the ground, and was picked up by one of the men who started to shoot at him. He was shot in his hand, calf and foot, but managed to contact his wife Corné who immediately contacted the emergency services.
  Corné praises the police, ambulance and farm watch for their immediate response. She told K2C that Marius is a wonderful man who wants to help everybody, a hard-working man and a good father and husband. She says he’s an ‘all-round good guy’ who tries to do good wherever he goes, and that was exactly what he was doing when this mindless attack took place.
  Marius has had surgery to clean up the wounds and is doing well. The wounds to his calf and foot should heal quickly, but the bullet to his hand hit a bone and this injury will be more difficult to treat. Marius wanted to make a difference, to leave a legacy and had planned that this would be the first of many such projects. He had even had a number plate with ‘Charity-1’ made for his push wagon.
  K2C wishes him a speedy recovery and hopes that he’ll soon feel ready to take up his walks again!