The comment about Pistorius, who is on bail awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was made by family friend Mike Azzie in a BBC documentary which aired this week.
“I would say that, just speaking to him, he is a broken man. I would go as far as to say that he could be on the verge of suicide. It really worries me,” Azzie said.
But Pistorius’s uncle Arnold rejected the statement.
“Oscar, broken as he is, believes he has a purpose in life. Reports to the contrary are untrue,” his uncle said.
“Of course Oscar will never be the same, having to live with the knowledge that he caused the death of the woman he loved, but he is coping as best he can with the support of his loved ones,” he said in a statement.
“As a family, we remain confident that this will prove to have been a terrible and tragic accident, which has changed many lives forever.”
Oscar Pistorius is fighting charges of premeditated murder.
He is next due to appear in court in June.
Images via Getty
