Despite repeated attacks from the hippo, the man survived.
A man amazingly survived three attacks from a hippo.
Talk about a cat with nine lives; this guy defied all odds.
Paul Templer lost his arm in a tragic animal attack in Zimbabwe while working as a tourist guide near the sea.
He was in his canoe near Victoria Falls at the time of the tragedy, and everything went horribly wrong.
Speaking with LADbible, he stated: “I went out with three other guides and several tourists when we came across a group of hippos in the water.
“They weren’t too near by, and while I was concerned, I figured we were on a safe road.
“However, I heard a huge splash and a crashing sound, and I realized that a hippo had hit one of the other canoes.”
“The boat overturned out of the water and into the hippo’s back, and my colleague was thrown into the water.
“There were some rocks nearby, so I called to my nearest colleague to get everyone back to safety.
“Then I went off to try and find the other guide.”
This is where the situation became disastrous.
He said, “I saw the hippo approaching me under water – it was like a submarine torpedo as it made its way towards my boat.
“Suddenly, everything became dark and quiet, and it took me a few seconds to figure out what had occurred.
“From the waist up, I didn’t feel damp, but I wasn’t completely dry.
“I could feel a sort of pressure on my lower back and with one of my arms I could feel around, and I felt bristles.”
Paul claimed to be’relieved’ by the news after realizing that he was, in reality, inside the Hippo.
This was because he understood he wasn’t trapped inside a crocodile and that there was a chance he could escape.
“The hippo began to shake me around as I struggled to escape.
“The hippo spat me out.
“As I made my way to the surface, I spotted the other guide, who I had been trying to save, and we swam away.”
The hippo then returned for another mouthful.
“I’d been swallowed up again,” Paul explained.
Miraculously, after being thrown around, the hippo spit him out again. But it did not appear to be backing down.
On the hippos’ third attempt, it ‘charged’ at Paul, mouth wide open.
“I thought he was going to bite me in half and I saw my blood mixing with the water and I remember thinking, ‘Will I bleed to death or will I drown?'”
Paul’s coworker was tragically killed during the traumatic episode, but Paul survived.
Despite this, his entire body was damaged; nonetheless, surgeons were able to save his right arm and injured leg.
He is now a motivational speaker, and honestly, if someone who had survived being devoured by a hippo three times was attempting to give me advice, I’d take it.
