A British man was left “badly chewed up” after a hippo attacked him on a canoeing trip in Zambia.
Roland Cherry, 63, was on a five-week safari holiday with his wife Shirley in June when the hippo charged at their boat and snatched him – leaving Roland wedged in the mammal’s jaw.
He suffered major injuries to his leg, shoulders and abdomen.
While Shirley had managed to swim away from the hippo when it attacked, Roland suffered a dislocated shoulder when the animal hit the canoe, leaving him unable to swim to safety.
He told Sky News’ The UK Tonight With Sarah-Jane Mee: “I was there really as a sitting duck in the water.
“The hippo came up and grabbed me from underneath and took me down to the bottom of the river before letting me go.
“That was when it really struck home. I thought, well, perhaps I’m going to die here tonight.”
Roland, who is from Warwickshire, said it took him “a couple of moments to process what’s going on here”.
“You think, oh my goodness, what’s in the water with me? I better get away from here.”
He believes he was not aware of what was happening, but remembers seeing his extensive injuries on the bank of the river.
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Roland added: “I looked down at my thigh, which was very badly chewed up, and I could see flesh sticking out from my shorts, and I could see the blood on my left side as well.
“The abdomen wound… I wasn’t really aware of at the time because it was all covered up by the life vest. So it was really after that, I became aware of how badly injured I was.”
Roland was told by one of the surgeons who later treated him in South Africa that he had “never met somebody who’s survived a hippo attack before”.
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Hippo attacks are more frequent than is widely understood, Roland said.
He added: “Hippos attack mainly locals on the rivers in that part of Africa and they are exceptionally dangerous.”
Roland is now fundraising for the Mtendere Mission Hospital in Zambia which he says “undoubtedly” saved his life.
