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South African triathlete focuses on recovery from saw attack

Johannesburg • A South African triathlete who suffered severe injuries when attackers cut his legs with a saw says he will focus on recovery so he can run and cycle again, South African media reported Thursday.

Athlete Mhlengi Gwala told News24 media that he panicked when several attackers pulled him off his bicycle and started cutting his leg, manually using the blade of a chainsaw after it malfunctioned.

"I don't know why they would do something like that to me," Gwala said a day after several hours of surgery in the city of Durban.

Gwala said he was training before dawn on Tuesday when the attack happened, and that a doctor told him that the recovery will take six months, according to News24.