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Life-Long Friend Reacts To Pistorius’ 5-Year Prison Sentence

FORT SMITH (KFSM)- Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius was sentenced Tuesday (Oct. 21) to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend in his South Africa ...

FORT SMITH (KFSM)- Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius was sentenced Tuesday (Oct. 21) to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend in his South Africa home.

The man who helped launch Pistorius’ career lives in the River Valley.

Thousands of miles from South Africa, Francois Van Der Watt works in Fort Smith at Horton’s Orthotics and Prosthetics.

“Oscar was my protégé,” Van Der Watt said. “It`s a shock, your friend is going to be in jail.”

The two met when Pistorius was  14-years-old. Van Der Watt helped develop the blades that launched Pistorius' running career and gave him the nickname the "Blade Runner."

The sentence for manslaughter comes nearly two years after the track star shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp claiming he thought she was an intruder.

“Obviously he did it, but was it intentional?  I don`t believe that,” Van Der Watt said. “I do believe it was an accident, an honest mistake.”

Van Der Watt said he is still trying to grasp the fact that a man he helped turn into an Olympic athlete is now a convicted killer.

"Just kind of surreal, wasn`t really happening, unbelievable pretty much couldn`t realize what happened,” Van Der Watt said.

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