CLAMPED inside the mouth of a 1.5 ton hippopotamus, Roland Cherry could only watch as the light from the water’s surface disappeared from sight. The dad of two was helpless and faced a grisly death as the enormous animal dragged him to the bottom of the river.
But in a remarkable stroke of luck, Roland managed to escape its clutches and the life jacket he was wearing lifted him back to the top. However, his ordeal wasn't over because just as Roland reached the surface the beast struck again, this time tossing him around like a rag doll into shallow water, an act which ultimately saved him. With his legs covered in puncture wounds but knowing his life depended on it, the 63 year old then found the strength to ‘bumshuffle’ his way to safety on dry land.
Speaking exclusively as part of Life Stories, Fabulous’ new YouTube series that sees ordinary people share their extraordinary experiences, he says: Read More Life Stories "I remember thinking ‘I don’t want to die, I’ve got so much more of my life to go.' I’m incredibly lucky. “The first thing medics told me was that they never treat hippo attack survivors for one reason only.
“They simply don’t survive.” In July this year, Roland was on safari with his wife Shirley, 63, in Zambia when the beast flipped over their canoe and dragged the retired marketing director to the bottom of the Kafue river. Most read in Fabulous They were two weeks into a five-week trip of a lifetime and until then, the pair say they.
