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Potholes can be quite frustrating – but this mom from Westville in KwaZulu-Natal found a way to deal with them in a humorous way.
Amy-Lee Theron (36) and her husband, Alfie (39), didn't expect to encounter so many road fissures when they took their six-year-old son, Logan, on a four-day road trip across four provinces.
Amy-Lee became a social-media sensation when she whipped out her phone and recorded a video of her husband and other drivers attempting to dodge the pesky potholes. She added the Super Mario Bros. theme song to the video, which has since racked up more than 360 000 views
“At the time I had two choices: I could either ruin the trip and be angry about the potholes or I could giggle about it," she says.
Amy-Lee and Alfie, who have been married for 12 years, own a timber business and love spending time with their only child.
The trio enjoy discovering new gems and have already gone on seven road trips this year.
During the recent school holidays, the family decided to explore small towns in their SUV.
“We hit the road and went down all the way to Eastern Cape. We went through to the Western Cape because we have family there. Then we went to the Northern Cape and Free State, which is where we found this road between Ficksburg and Fouriesburg,” Amy-Lee tells YOU.
The R26 from Ficksburg headed to Fouriesburg is riddled with potholes and she found it funny how drivers had to swerve left and right to avoid hitting them.
READ MORE | What happens if a pothole or roadworks damage your car?
Amy-Lee used her phone to record the cars ahead and added a theme song to the mix. In the video titled Playing Pothole Dodgems in SA, drivers are seen trying their best to avoid the potholes. She narrates the video while Alfie does a good job of avoiding potholes and Logan can be heard giggling in the background.
“The thing that made me want to record was not necessarily the potholes but the reaction of the drivers on the road. It was hilarious seeing all of these cars diverting back and forth, running to and fro,’’ she says.
“I chose the Super Mario Bros. song because of how the cars were bouncing up and down on the road. That was the song that was playing in my head. I thought it would be absolutely perfect.’’
And it was. The video went viral the minute she loaded it onto social media.
“I absolutely love the fact that our nation always finds the funny side of any story. No other country has this amazing sense of humour,” someone responded to the clip.
“As they say, 'In SA we don't drive on the left of the road, we drive on what's left of the road',’’ another commented.
Although Amy-Lee is stunned that her video has become such a talking point, she’s even happier that she can make South Africans laugh.
“It was a little bit nerve-racking because I like being behind the scenes. I like putting husband and son front and centre on my social-media posts and then suddenly there was 100 000 views. I thought, ‘Okay, well that took off’. It was unexpected,” she says.
The Therons are already planning their next trip in November. They want to go the Cherry Festival, which will takes place in Ficksburg.
“So we’ll have to take that same road. But we’re going back! Nothing will deter us,” she laughs.
