Brit survives hippo attack after two tonne animal attacked canoe during dream safari holiday
25 September 2024, 14:16
A British holidaymaker has shared his terrifying account of being tossed around by an angry hippo ‘like a rag doll’ while on holiday in Zambia with his wife.
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Roland Cherry, 63, was dragged under water while on a canoe trip on the Kafue River while on safari with his wife Shirley.
The hippo charged at him while he was canoeing, throwing him and his wife into the water.
His shoulder was dislocated and he was unable to swim - leaving him a ‘sitting duck’ for the hippo which grabbed him and dragged him under water.
“I remember thinking ‘what a way to go… I’m not ready to die.’ And I thought this was it, because nobody survives hippo attacks.”
He ended up between the hippo’s jaws and suffered major injuries to his thigh and shoulder as well as a 10-inch wound to his abdomen. His injuries required seven separate surgeries in two weeks.
His wife Shirley said: “Roland took one for the team.”
Roland described how “there were bits of flesh sticking out of my torn shorts and blood over my abdomen.”
He described how he didn’t even see the animal before it attacked - and that he only realised what happened after speaking to witnesses.
His only recollection was “friendly arms” dragging him to safety after the hippo flung him towards the river bank.
Nurses told him that they had never seen anyone survive a hippo attack.
Roland has started to raise money for the Mtendere Mission Hospital at Chirundu, Zambia “as a thank you for their life saving intervention” and has raised nearly £7,000 so far.
He wrote on his JustGiving page: “What struck me most from this near death experience was the kindness of strangers.
“I vowed that assuming I made it home to Warwickshire I would talk about the incident at a fund-raising event for the Mtendere Mission Hospital and see if we can offer something back to the hospital that had almost certainly saved my life.”
