Cape Town – “I dealt with him as a person.
“I wasn’t focused on what he had done or might still do,” these are the words of the heroic nurse who managed to calm and sedate an armed man who killed three people during a shooting incident at the New Somerset Hospital in Cape Town.
Operational manager Sister Diane Seale and her team have been praised for their heroism and going above and beyond the call of duty to save countless lives.
On Saturday, May 7, Seale was conducting her routine handover process when she received a call from a colleague in distress.
Seale said she could hear her colleague screaming and the colleague who answered the phone informed her of an altercation on the hospital’s second floor.
Seale told her colleague to carry on working and she would attend to the matter.
“As I entered the second floor, I noticed a body on the floor in the corridor, but my eye caught the patient with the gun in his hand.
“I proceeded to walk straight to him, making eye contact. I walked towards him, and I hugged him. I escorted him into the cubicle.
“He told me to close the door. That also afforded our staff to then attend to the policeman who had been shot. I felt I could calm him down a bit.
“Although I had noted two patients had been shot and were deceased, there were still two patients that were alive that I needed to save.
“I kept him seated, standing in front of him, so that these patients were kept out of harm’s way,” Seale explained.
She said she kept all her focus solely on the shooter, who was later revealed to allegedly be a former police officer.
“I did not want to take my eyes off him. I kept on telling him that we needed to talk. I dealt with him as a person.
“I wasn’t focused on what he had done or might still do.
“I asked him, ‘what happened?’ I reached out and touched him, and he allowed me to.
“This gave me confidence and I knew that he trusted me. He looked at me while my hands were still on his shoulders and said: “you are brave, you are the only one that has come in here”.
“At this point, all I wanted to do was to keep him focused and calm,” Seale explained.
The brave nurse recalled how she asked the man several times to put the firearm down.
“I took him to my chest, held him close and he again allowed me to hold him. At least I knew there was this rapport between us”.
During this time, she was unaware the police’s tactical unit had arrived at the hospital armed and ready for anything.
Seale said her main goal was to isolate the shooter away from staff and patients.
She said he eventually agreed and once she moved towards the cubicle doors she became aware of the officers stationed outside.
However, she believed she had control over the situation with the shooter.
“There were some moments when the perpetrator and I engaged in conversation, and I could even crack a joke.
“If he spoke to me, I allowed him that opportunity, but I would always come back to the request to put the gun down.
“During our exchanges I lifted his face and said, ‘do you see this uniform, I am here to save life and limb’.
“Eventually, he agreed for me to sedate him.
“Through it all, I sat with him, stroking his forehead until he was finally sedated,” Seale explained.
It was at this point she alerted the tactical team and he was subdued.
Seale said as she stepped out, everyone was there, her team was safe and this gave her the encouragement she needed to push on.
While having gone through this traumatic experience, it did not stop Seale, she immediately engaged her team and embarked on debriefing nurses and patients.
“Through it all my main concern was that our patients were to be settled,” Seale added.
Metropolitan counselling services, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital psychosocial support and the Western Cape Health and Wellness team were all on site to offer support.
Deputy nursing manager, Salama Basardien said it needed to be realised in their profession, there is no such thing as getting to ‘close shop’.
She said their team not only had to endure the events of Saturday but needed to continue to provide care and support to patients, despite being in danger themselves.
“The story of Sr Seale is one of leadership, bravery, compassion, teamwork and true humanity.
“Her unwavering focus and attention on the suspected shooter ensured that countless lives were spared.
“She and her entire team exemplify the Western Cape Government’s values of being caring, competent, and responsive; and they are an example to us all.
“Their selfless actions embodies the ethics nurses across the province uphold every single day and we salute them,” said Western Cape Premier Alan Winde.
Professor Roger Dickerson, head of the emergency centre at the hospital said the team, although horrified, pulled together not only to support one another but to provide safety and excellent care to the remaining patients doing their utmost to keep calm as worlds were shattering around them.
“To me, it is evidence, not only of profound professionalism, dedication and the utmost of humanity but it is really indicative of the relationships of the staff of a small hospital, of all levels, that can pull together at a moment’s notice in times of absolute terror and provide such amazing outcomes.
“Sr Seale is a remarkable individual and that was before Saturday night. She was willing to sacrifice herself, her own safety and well-being to ensure the safety and wellbeing of others.
“And I have absolutely no doubt, that she saved lives on Saturday night, lives that would ordinarily have been lost…and really, it’s a miracle,” Dickerson said.
Dickerson said the team all agreed there were many unsung heroes in this matter.
“The whole system pulled together. We tend to focus on the obvious hero in these situations, and in the case of Diane Seale it is worthy.
“The family at our hospital is a very different beast and we squabble like any family does, but when we have an outside threat, it is remarkable how this family pulls together
The Emergency Centre staff that responded to the calls in the ward, and attended to the victims who needed care, the anaesthetic staff who assisted with the stabilisation, disaster management, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the hospital porter who went over and above the call of duty to assist where needed were all commended for their bravery and hard work during this period.
“I must give credit to our management team, who put great effort and thought into developing and preparing our Major Incident Plan.
“It has meant that when we were faced with the unthinkable, everything fell into place.
“Sr Seale herself, did not see this person as a perpetrator, and I believe this too, made a difference in that he responded to her – she truly saved lives,” Beven Mashedi, facilities manager at the hospital said.
According to Seale, she and her team only got through this incident because of God and prayers.
“That is part and parcel of us and nurses, no matter how traumatic the event, when you are in that moment, you do what must be done.
“Yes, it’s something big, but it did not take 'Diane' alone, it took a team to bring this whole thing together,” she concluded.
The shooter, Jean-Paul Carl Malgas, 39, appeared at Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on three counts of murder, illegal possession of a firearm, ammunition and robbery.
He is expected back in court on June 30.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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