On the eve of Oscar Pistorius’ next court appearance, South African journalist Debora Patta meets the Paralympian’s coach who says the runner had a fascination with guns and could lose his temper.
Oscar Pistorius – one of the most famous athletes of all time – will make a brief but highly anticipated court appearance on Tuesday.
It comes as images were leaked to the media showing the blood-splattered bathroom where Pistorius claims he accidentally shot his girlfriend through a bathroom door. They show a trail of blood from the toilet, down the stairs, to a couch.
A Valentine’s card addressed to Ozzie carelessly thrown nearby.
Shaken by the photographs Oscar Pistorius’s family say the legal process should be allowed to run its course. It is a sentiment shared by one of the men closest to Pistorius, Ampie Louw, his coach for nearly a decade.
He says seeing the photos would have been an emotional set-back for Oscar: “We are working very hard with Oscar to lift him up a little, to get stronger and this will also not be a good thing to see.”
Ampie Louw is like a father to the athlete. Oscar’s mother died when he was 15 and he has a troubled relationship with his own father.
He was one of the first on the scene the night Reeva died and he has been supporting the Paralympic star throughout his very public trial: “After the bail hearing he was very weak, he didn’t eat. He’s training now twice a day in a home gym, not official training on a programme, and he’s looking better.
“But he’s still very, very sad. Sometimes he is up and down and I will say in the last few hours maybe he cried again.”
The coach and Oscar had much in common, sharing a fascination with fast cars and guns: “I think that’s a normal boy thing, there’s a lot of people that like guns. And my son, if you talk about a machine gun, he will tell you an M16 is a good gun and Oscar even said he will take him to a shooting range for him to shoot with a machine gun.”
But his obsession with speed, occasionally went too far and the coach had to warn him to “cool down”.
He also admits that Oscar had a temper. “Oscar is a verbal guy – I call it grumpy, when he gets grumpy and it doesn’t go his way – then he will be verbal but the next day he will normally say sorry or whatever.”
But Reeva Steenkamp, the coach says, was different. She was good for him, they were clearly in love he says, and he never saw them argue.
However, Reeva’s parents heard of a different side. Her mother June Steenkamp says she once threatened to wipe Pistorius out if his fast driving ever hurt her daughter. Reeva also confided in her saying their relationship was far from perfect and that they were arguing a lot.
Pistorius is expected to appear briefly and the trial will be set for a later date.