Medical staff at Kalafong Hospital in Pretoria confirmed that Oscar Pistorius has been receiving treatment in a security ward after an incident that occurred while he was alone in his cell on Saturday. Reports from officials at the prison stated the recently jailed former Paralympian first visited the emergency department before he was admitted to a hospital ward for injuries sustained when he allegedly fell out of his bed in his cell.
However, according to a report by News24, two security guards working at the Kalafong Hospital leaked the information that Pistorius may have attempted to commit suicide.
Reportedly razor blades were discovered in his cell and his arms were covered with bandages when he was rushed to hospital. One of the guards said he had bad cuts on his wrists and that doctors were wrapping bandages around them. He also said Pistorius was under the guard of 10 warders when in the hospital.
Oscar Pistorius denies suicide attempt after hospitalization for wrist injury https://t.co/3QKi6uLteF pic.twitter.com/veRK7I7KpY
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 7, 2016
Nurses aren’t talking about what happened to Oscar Pistorius
According to hospital staff, security was tight and only senior doctors and nurses were given access to the security section where Pistorius was recovering. When the South African news service IOL contacted the prison for more information, officials would only confirm that Pistorius was first attended to at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison where he is currently serving a six-year jail term.
They said he was then sent on to the Kalafong Hospital for further medical treatment.
Reportedly later on Saturday, Pistorius was taken back to his prison cell. Officials told the media that Oscar had denied it was a suicide attempt and that they cannot discuss an inmate’s personal condition.
The prosecution intends to appeal Pistorius’ lenient sentence
The prosecution is still not happy with the lenient sentence received by Pistorius for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013. The State has asked for leave to appeal, but no date has yet been set to hear the application. This is the second time the prosecution will be heading to the Supreme Court of Appeal. The first time, they won, when five judges overturned Oscar’s conviction of culpable homicide and changed the verdict to murder.