A British man has survived a hippo attack after the beast crashed into his canoe during a safari.
Roland Cherry, 63, from Warwickshire, said the hippo tossed him through the air “like a rag doll” after dragging him underwater while he was on a canoeing trip down the Kafue River while on holiday in Zambia with his wife Shirley.
He ended up trapped between the hippo’s jaws and suffered significant injuries to his thigh and shoulder, as well as a 25-centimetre wound to his abdomen. His injuries required seven surgeries in two weeks.
Mrs Cherry managed to swim to the riverbank after being thrown from the canoe.
“The hippo could have attacked any one of us and I can’t help but feel that if the hippo had… if it had been me, I wouldn’t be here now, so I think Roland sacrificed himself for the team,” he told the BBC. BBC.
Roland Cherry (pictured), 63, from Warwickshire, said the hippo tossed him through the air “like a rag doll” after dragging him underwater while he was on a canoeing trip down the Kafue River during his holiday in Zambia with his wife Shirley.
Roland and Shirley Cherry (pictured) were on a canoeing safari trip in Zambia when the horrific attack happened in June.
He ended up trapped between the hippo’s jaws and suffered significant injuries to his thigh and shoulder, as well as a 25-centimetre wound to his abdomen. His injuries required him to undergo seven surgeries in two weeks.
Mrs Cherry managed to swim to the riverbank after being thrown from the canoe and later said her husband “sacrificed himself for the team” in the hippo attack (stock image of a hippo)
The 10-inch wound Mr. Cherry suffered in the hippo attack is shown above.
Mr Cherry said after the attack that while he did not hate hippos, he was “not very fond” of the animal that attacked him during his canoe safari.
The experienced canoeist said that when the hippo collided with the canoe there was a “big crash” and the impact caused him and his wife to be thrown into the water.
Mr Cherry said his shoulder was dislocated and he was unable to swim to safety, making him an easy target for the hippo, which quickly grabbed him and dragged him to the bottom of the river.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh no, what a way to die… I’m not ready to die’ and thinking that was it, because no one survives hippo attacks,” he told the BBC..
Before he could swim with one arm to the safety of the shallow waters at the riverbank, the animal grabbed him again.
Mr Cherry told the broadcaster: ‘We subsequently heard from other passengers that I was grabbed again and thrown into the air like a rag doll, but towards the bank, which was a blessing.
“I remember looking down at my legs and thinking, ‘That’s not right.’ There were chunks of flesh sticking out of my ripped shorts and blood on my abdomen.”
He said that even though he was in the hippo’s jaws, he did not see the animal even once and only passed through it, which occurred due to eyewitness reports.
Mr Cherry said he remembered his wife Shirley calling out to him and her “friendly arms” dragging him along after the hippo had thrown him towards the river bank.
The attack occurred during the third week of the Cherries’ dream holiday to southern Africa in June.
Mr Cherry said after the attack that while he did not hate hippos, he was “not very fond” of the animal that attacked him during his canoe safari.
The hippo also left Mr Cherry with a thigh injury.
The attack occurred during the third week of the Cherries’ dream holiday to southern Africa in June (pictured above is Shirley on safari holiday).
Roland Cherry and his wife Shirley on holiday at Victoria Falls before the hippo attack
Mr Cherry said the local hospital he was taken to immediately after the attack saved his life and he decided to launch a fundraiser for the Mtendere Mission Hospital to “give back” what he had received as he “will always be indebted to them”.
Doctors in Johannesburg, South Africa, later reportedly told Mr Cherry that he might not have survived if the hippo’s bite wounds had been a little deeper.
She said the nurses added that they have never seen anyone survive a hippo attack, as most end fatally for the victims.
Mr Cherry said the local hospital he was taken to immediately after the attack saved his life and he decided to launch a fundraiser for the Mtendere Mission Hospital to “give back” as he is “eternally indebted to them”.
She wrote on her JustGiving page: ‘What struck me most about this near-death experience was the kindness of strangers.
‘I promised that if I managed to get home to Warwickshire, I would speak about the incident at a fundraising event for Mtendere Mission Hospital and see if we could offer something in return to the hospital that had almost certainly saved my life.’
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