22-year-old woman, Ms. Shayna Peacock, has been hailed a heroine after bravely rescuing an American tourist from a hippopotamus attack at Lomagundi Lakeside Resort in Kariba on Saturday night.
The victim, identified as Mary, survived the vicious encounter but sustained serious injuries to both legs. She is currently receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital in Harare.
The incident occurred around 9 PM, while Ms. Peacock and her friends were in Kariba for a fishing tournament. A staff member rushed to alert them about the attack, prompting Peacock and her friend, Mr. Benjamin Ferreira, to race to the scene.
Ms Peacock told State media:
“Driving up, the first thing I saw was the lady, Mary, lying on the floor with a huge hippo just a few metres away from her,”It was terrifying – bone chilling. My adrenaline kicked in and I knew we had to get the hippo away from her.”
Together with Ferreira and a resort security guard, they used her car, hooting and shouting, to distract the animal. Ferreira then threw a rock at the hippo, forcing it to retreat.
Peacock quickly positioned her car between the hippo and the victim, before rushing to Mary’s side. “I checked her vital signs, kept her calm and conscious, and stayed by her side until the ambulance arrived,” she said.
Mary, though in shock and in severe pain, remained composed throughout the ordeal. Within ten minutes, an ambulance arrived and ferried her to a clinic in Kariba before she was transferred to Harare for further care.
Peacock suspects the attack happened when Mary, returning from the bathroom, accidentally walked into the hippo’s path. “From what I saw, she must have startled it. Her toiletry bag was still on the ground,” she said.
Despite her courageous efforts, Peacock remained modest. “I lay with her to comfort her, but the real heroes were the people who organised the ambulance so quickly,” she said.
ZimParks spokesperson Mr. Tinashe Farawo said he could not immediately confirm the incident
