Woman left paralysed wants maximum sentence in Durban drunk driving case
An electronics engineer who was became quadriplegic after a drunk driver crashed into her and her sister - is pleading with the court not to be lenient.
Earlier this year, Stephan Bothma pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and admitted he didn't stop at the scene of the accident he caused last June in Durban.
Bothma had been drinking at a rugby match and later got behind the wheel.
The 27-year-old smashed into the car Taariqa Archary and her sister Varsha Maharaj were in - on Bram Fischer Road in the CBD.
Maharaj suffered injuries to the brain.
"Why should I suffer a life sentence within my own body because of his decisions while this has no impact on his life?" an emotional Archary asked the court this afternoon.
In her victim impact statement which she read out in court, the 30-year-old explains how her life will never be the same again.
She says before the crash, she and her husband of two years then, were planning a family.
She says she can't wear dresses or heels and she will never travel again nor will she be able to continue her career.