'Thrown through the air like a rag doll': Hippo attack survivor describes ordeal

A British tourist described his experience of being tossed into the air like a "rag doll" during a hippo attack. 63-year-old businessman Roland Cherry and his wife, Shirley, were on a river expedition in Zambia when a hippo struck their canoe and dragged him underwater.

He told the BBC that he was lucky to be alive after the ordeal, but he holds no grudges against the animals. "When the hippo first hit the canoe, it was a massive bang, really like a car crash," he said. The impact caused both of them to be thrown from the canoe. His wife swam to safety, while Roland, with a dislocated shoulder from being thrown into the river, struggled to reach the shore.

The hippo then 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 I thought this was it, because nobody survives a hippo attack," he said. "I remember coming up to the surface and realizing that my shoulder was badly hurt, I realized it was dislocated from the start and it turned out I couldn't swim at all." Roland managed to reach the shallows of the riverbank, but the enraged hippo wasn't finished with him. "I was grabbed again and thrown into the air like a rag doll, but this time towards the shore, which was just a godsend," he said.

After rescuers arrived, he was put on a speedboat and taken back to the safari camp, before being treated at the nearby Mtendere Mission Hospital. He later underwent seven operations in a hospital in South Africa to treat injuries to his shoulder, abdomen, and leg. Nurses told him that survivors of hippo attacks are extremely rare. Roland later learned that the female hippo was protecting its calf at the time of the attack, and he said he understands that the safari group was in the animal's habitat.

Roland and Shirley Cherry have since launched a fundraising page for the Mtendere Mission Hospital.