'I was swallowed by a hippopotamus'

A man has told how he was swallowed by a hippo. Photo: Joey Senft/NatGeo Source: Supplied

• Man tells how he ended up in a hippo's mouth
• He survived the incident, but was injured
• Hippos can become extremely territorial in the water

A TOUR guide has told of his miraculous escape after finding himself head-first and up to his waist in a hippopotamus's throat.

Paul Templer, 27, was leading a group on a kayaking trip down the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe when disaster struck.

He was travelling with three other guides when one of them, Evans, got into trouble near a pod of around a dozen hippos.

"I turned just in time to see Evans flying through the air before he splashed into the river," Mr Templer told the UK’s Daily Mail.

He went to help Evans, who reached out to grab his hand, and the next thing he knew his "world went dark and strangely quiet".

"I was head first down my waist down a hippo's throat," Mr Templer said. "I pushed and I pulled and I wiggled about all to no avail.

"Then the monster loosened its grip long enough for me to escape. Bursting to the surface I came face-to-face with Evans.

"I remember looking up and I could see the different hues of green and yellow and I watched my blood mingle with the water."

One of the other guides came to help and dragged his kayak to the shore. He remembers taking a look at one of his arms, which had been crushed to a pulp.

"The pain was so intense that I thought for sure I was going to die."

The arm had to be amputated above the elbow, but his injured leg was saved.

Now, two years after the attack, he's back on the river with a specially adapted kayak.

Hippos are often thought of as friendly animals, but they are estimated to kill approximately 300 people a year. Male bull hippos can become extremely territorial in the water.

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