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

A British tourist described his harrowing experience of being attacked by a hippopotamus in Zambia, stating that he was tossed into the air like a "rag doll." Roland Cherry, a 63-year-old businessman, was on a river trip in Zambia with his wife, Shirley, when their canoe was attacked by a hippo, and he was dragged underwater.

Mr. Cherry told the BBC that he was lucky to be alive after the ordeal, but he harbors no resentment towards the animals. He recalled, "When the hippo first hit the canoe, there was a huge bang, it really was very much like a car crash." The impact caused him and his wife to be thrown from the canoe.

While his wife managed to swim to safety, Roland injured his shoulder when he was thrown into the river, making it difficult to swim ashore. To make matters worse, the hippo then dragged him to the bottom of the river. He said, "I remember thinking at the time 'oh no, what a way to die... I'm not ready to die', I thought that was the end, because no one survives a hippo attack."

"I remember surfacing and realizing my shoulder was badly injured, I realized it was dislocated from the start, and as a result I couldn't swim at all." Roland managed to reach the shallows by the riverbank, but the angry hippo did not let him go. "I was grabbed again and thrown into the air like a rag doll, but luckily, this time it was towards the shore."

Rescuers then arrived, and he was put on a motorboat and taken back to the safari camp before being treated at the nearby Mtendere Mission Hospital. Later, he underwent seven operations in a South African hospital to treat injuries to his shoulder, stomach, and leg. Nurses told him that survivors of hippo attacks are extremely rare.

Roland later learned that the female hippo was protecting her calf at the time of the attack and stated that he understood the safari group was in the animals' habitat. Currently, Roland and Shirley Cherry have launched a fundraising page for the Mtendere Mission Hospital.