NATIONAL NEWS - A mother, her daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend were attacked by a hippo at St Lucia, northern KZN, on Wednesday afternoon. This comes as a toddler died at Hluhluwe following an attack by a giraffe on the same day.
Shawn Herbst, Netcare911 spokesperson, said reports indicate that a mother, her daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend were swimming in a resort pool when they were hit with load shedding.
“The three exited the pool in complete darkness, walking back to their accommodation when they were confronted by an adult hippo and its baby.
“Upon noticing the hippo, the trio ran to escape the charging animal. Unfortunately, the 50-year-old woman was caught and she was bitten and trampled. The daughter and her boyfriend managed to escape,” said Herbst.
He said St Lucia NSRI Station 19 with the START Rescue team were called to assist the wounded woman, who then notified authorities.
Herbst said the woman was found to be in a critical condition, and her condition was rapidly deteriorating.
“Due to the nature of the [woman’s] injuries and distance to an appropriate medical facility, the Netcare 911 Helicopter Air Ambulance was activated to fly [her] to hospital.
Circumstances leading up to the incident will be investigated by the St Lucia SAPS.
In a separate incident also on Wednesday afternoon, a 16-month-old toddler died after she and her mother were trampled by a giraffe at the Kuleni Farm in Hluhluwe on Wednesday afternoon.
The mother, who was in a critical condition, was airlifted to hospital where Herbst said she is still in the intensive care unit (ICU) after having suffered polytraumatic injuries.
