Published 15:42 IST, November 18th 2019
Zimbabwe tourist guide survives being swallowed by the hippo thrice
Zimbabwe's tourist guide Paul Templer managed to survive after being swallowed by the hippo thrice; he described the incident during which he lost an arm
- World News
- 3 min read
In a rare event, a man was swallowed thrice by a hippopotamus and yet managed to survive. The man described his traumatic experience in which he lost one of his arms.
Battled the angry hippo
The man named Paul Templer had to battle with an angry hippo while he was on his guided tour. Templer was working as a tourist guide in Zimbabwe when the tragic incident took place. He described that he would take a group of tourists out on the waters several times, to get a glimpse of wildlife. But one day, things turned bad while he was out in a canoe near the Victoria Falls.
He said that there was a group of hippos who were taking bath at the Victoria Falls. The herd was far from their canoe. There were three guides along with the tourists. In a sudden turn of events, he heard a huge splash of water and when he turned, he saw that a hippo had hard hit the canoe. The hit was strong enough to flip their boat out of the waters and on the back of the hippo. The angry hippo then charged at Templer. In order to save the travellers, Templer asked one of the guides to take them to a safe place while he was looking for the missing guide who had fallen into the waters.
Templer was swallowed thrice by the hippo
Templer further explained that everything happened so suddenly that it was hard for him to sink it in. Within a few seconds, he realised that a hippo was coming charging at him from under the water, and it all seemed like a submarine torpedo. The next thing he knew that he was inside the stomach of the hippo. He felt weirdly relieved and tried to push himself out of the animal. After the hippo spat him out, he ran towards the safe place, where he spotted the missing guide. However, the struggle did not stop here. The hippo again charged at him and swallowed him twice. During the ordeal, Templer had lost a lot of his blood, suffered 38 bites and lost one of his arms.
From tourist guide to motivational speaker
Templer was taken to the hospital, where his recovery was slow while one of his colleagues had lost his life. Templer said that the incident still haunts him and makes him feel guilty for the death of the colleague. It took him time to move on from the tragic incident. He now works as a motivational speaker and inspires other people from his life experiences.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 23:43 IST, November 18th 2019