I was swallowed by a HIPPO – beast crushed bones & pierced organs… I was wrapped in cling film to stop bleeding to death
A BRAVE safari guide has revealed how he was left with 38 horrifying wounds after he was swallowed by a hippo.
Paul Templer nearly bled to death after the beast savagely attacked him in front of horrified tourists.
He was leading a small safari tour of six people down the Zambezi river in his native Zimbabwe when the deadly attack unfolded.
The usually calm expedition descended into chaos after Paul noticed what looked like a “submarine torpedo” crashing through the water.
Moments later, a fellow guide started to struggle in the water after a hippo smashed into his canoe and dragged him underwater to his tragic death.
Valiant Paul jumped into the river to try and wrestle the man away from the giant beast – but soon found himself trapped in its deadly jaws.
Reminiscing on the harrowing encounter, Paul told The Sun: “During the attack I felt a combination of absolutely terrified and needing to be in control.
“I do remember the absurdity of the situation.
“I can remember the first time I realised what was going I was literally up to my waist down the hippo’s throat.
“Everything just went dark. It happened so quickly I didn’t see a thing but the next thing I know my arms are pinned to my sides and I can’t move.
“There’s this pressure and I feel like something’s trying to break me in half as its pushing down on my lower back.
“I remember just being completely overwhelmed and not able to move and that moment when I felt the bristles on the hippo snout.”
Paul revealed that once he realised he was being attacked by a hippo, a strange feeling of relief came over him.
His biggest fear was being snagged by a crocodile – a fate he worried may have killed him in an instant.
He was held by the hippo for an agonising three minutes and was spat out and recaptured on multiple occasions.
Paul – who has since gone on to be an inspirational speaker and writer – says he narrowly escaped death through his experience in the British Army.
He trained in the years before the savage 1996 attack and believes this helped him stay calm as the beast chomped at his flesh.
Once he managed to free himself from the hippo, Paul recalls a dark feeling of sadness take over him.
“There was a lot going on in my body at the time, so I think there was a lot of stress, hormones and a lot of adrenaline,” he continued.
“There was a lot of things going on that kept me laser focused but after the event, once all of that died down, it got a little bit ugly.
I remember just being completely overwhelmed and not able to move and that moment when I felt the bristles on the hippo snout
Paul Templer
“There was a lot of fear and a lot of sadness over grieving the life that I’d had and grieving the loss of the dreams of everything I’d planned for the future.”
Paul suffered around 38 major bite wounds in the savage attack with almost all of his body being ripped apart.
He lost one of his arms with it being almost completely stripped of its skin while the beast crushed almost all of the bones like glass.
The hippo had even managed to separate both of Paul’s arms from their sockets.
His leg was also badly injured as was his torso – both had been left with serious puncture wounds from the beast’s sharp jaws.
Many on the injuries also came from the hippo’s tusk with the worst crushing through Paul’s back and piercing his lung.
One of the heroic men who saved his life was even forced to wrap him up in cling film to help stop the severe bleeding.
An almost lifeless Paul was quickly rushed to an emergency team nearby who did all they could to keep his heart pumping as he miraculously stayed conscious but in unimaginable pain.
He was then rushed to the closest hospital which was an agonising eight-hour journey away.
Shocked surgeons soon started fearing the worst when he first arrived due to the severity of his wounds.
And doctors feared he might not even survive, Paul said.
He had lost a remarkable amount of blood with every passing second becoming more dangerous.
When Paul first spoke to a doctor he convinced them to try as hard as possible to keep his body functioning as best it could.
He said: “The surgeon came up to me and I just said ‘doc, I know that you’re going to do what you’re going to do but please don’t take the minimalist approach’.”
This approach would have seen doctors remove Paul’s damaged limbs completely – leaving him with no arms and just one leg.
But after Paul’s brave plea doctors decided on a “way riskier surgery” with the main goal being to salvage as much of him as possible.
Following the operations a doc told Paul they felt: “If this kid’s gonna fight, if this kid’s gonna go for it then I’ll go for it too.”
Paul ended up keeping his legs and one of his arms after the intense but successful operations.
Almost 30 years on from the attack, Paul has continued to use his story to inspire others who have faced serious hardships.
He has become a keynote speaker around the world and has put together a collection of his biggest trial and tribulations as well as the best advice to overcome them in a new book.
Titled “Marked For Life: Finding Grace and Grit Where You Least Expect It”, the book is available online.
World's worst hippo attacks
HIPPOS are believed to kill anywhere up to 500 people each year and are widely considered to be the world's deadliest land mammal.
Brit tourist’s miraculous survival
Roland Cherry, 63, was on safari with his wife in Zambia when a 1.5 ton beast flipped over their canoe and dragged the marketing director to the bottom of the river.
The hippo terrifyingly grabbed Roland in its jaws, mauling him, before flinging him into the air like “a ragdoll”.
He suffered a 10-inch wound to his abdomen, plus a thigh injury and dislocated shoulder.
Held captive
Mathew Wanjiuku was ambushed by one of the giant creatures and held captive for 10 minutes while the animal continued to bite him.
A photographer who saw the chaos unfold said: “Stamping its feet and swinging its head vigorously, the hippo appeared to be trying to trample its victim.
“There was a chorus of helpless screams coming from the water’s edge.”
The hippo was seen chomping on his arm, shoulder, and torso, leaving Mathew on the floor rapidly losing blood.
Legs ripped off
Fisherman Enock Romano’s legs had to be amputated under the knees after a hippo crushed him.
He was fishing with a friend on the beach of Lake Naivasha when the hippo attacked them both.
Nurse Susan Kamau said at the time: “It was impossible to treat them.
“The victim had to be rushed to theatre as his legs were literally hanging from the skin. They had to be amputated as we did not have any other option.”
Pet of death
Marius Els said his giant pet was “like a son” as he would often ride on the back of the hippo after he adopted it.
But the 40-year-old was soon found dead in a river after being repeatedly bitten by the huge beast.
The South African farmer was mauled and dragged into the Vaal River close to his home by the six-year-old animal.
“It’s a little bit dangerous, but I trust him with my heart that he will not harm anybody,” he said before his death.
A child’s horror
Jacob Kandjimi was swimming in a river when a hippo attacked him and left him with deep wounds in his legs.
The six-year-old was in the Okavango River with his older brother when the attack unfolded before he was rushed to hospital.
Luckily he survived the 2020 attack but was left traumatised by his ordeal.
Tourist boat attack
Shocking footage captured the terrifying moment an angry hippo chased and attacked a boat packed with tourists in Namibia.
The wild beast lunged at the tour boat before sinking its gigantic teeth into the vessel – leaving those on board terrified.