Oscar Pistorius, the South African Paralympian convicted of murdering his girlfriend, was quickly admitted to a hospital on Aug. 3 after reportedly experiencing ‘chest pains.’ Did this infamous athlete have a heart attack?
The 30-year-old Oscar Pistorius was taken to Pretoria’s Kalafong Hospital around 8:00 AM, local time, after complaining of “chest pains,” according to The Mirror. Initial reports in South Africa suggested that his prison officers thought he had suffered a heart attack, but the authorities didn’t confirm that. “We can state that offender Oscar Pistorius was taken to an outside hospital facility this morning for a medical examination, and is expected back in the facility later today,” a prison spokesperson said.
Johan van Wyk, a spokesperson for the Pistorius family, said that the blade runner was “okay,” per the Daily Mail. Oscar was reportedly discharged around 2:00 PM, local time, before returning to prison. Oscar is currently serving a six-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013. Oscar has always maintained his innocence, saying that he had mistaken Reeva for a home intruder hiding in the bathroom when he fired his weapon at her. Reeva was facing the close door when she was hit in the hip by the first bullet, before falling back into a magazine rack when a second bullet hit her arm. The final two shots from Oscar’s 9mm piston hit her in the head.
He was originally convicted of culpable homicide (and was sentenced to five years) in 2014, but he only spent one year of that behind bears before being transferred to house arrest. A higher court overturned the original ruling, stating that the “culpable homicide” conviction was “fundamentally flawed” because Oscar should have known that firing his gun at whomever – be it a home intruder or his girlfriend – would have been fatal. The Supreme Court of Appeals found him guilty and slapped him with a six-year sentence.
Oscar was a six-time Paralympic gold medal winner. The man, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11, was a renowned sprint runner (or blade runner, as he was outfitted with racing ‘blades’ at the end of his legs.) He also made history by becoming the tenth athlete in history to compete at both the Paralympic Games and the Olympic games. He competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, racing in the 400 meters and in the 4 x 400 meters relay. A year later, he would be put on trial for the murder of his girlfriend.
This isn’t the first time that Oscar has been rushed to a medical center while serving his prison sentence. He was taken to the same Kalafong Hospital in Aug. 2016 after sustaining injuries to his wrists. An inmate reportedly said that the wounds were self-inflicted, but Oscar denied that he was attempting to kill himself.
We will continue to update this story with more information, HollywoodLifers. In the meantime, what are you thoughts about Oscar being rushed to the hospital?