‘I’m Going To Die Here’: British Man Says He Was Attacked By Hippo While Canoeing In Zambia

Roland Cherry, a British tourist, is lucky to be alive after being “badly chewed up” by a hippopotamus while canoeing in Zambia in June.

Roland and his wife Shirley were enjoying a five-week safari when the hippo charged at their boat and managed to snatch him in its powerful mouth, he recalled in an interview with Sky News published Sept. 26. The 63-year-old suffered major injuries to his abdomen, shoulders and leg. He remembers thinking he was going to die amid the horrific, bloody encounter with the wild animal.

👉 Terrifying Hippo Attack: British Tourist Thrown ‘Like a Ragdoll’ During Zambia Safari

⏺ Roland Cherry, 63, was brutally attacked by a hippo while canoeing in Zambia. The 1.4-ton beast rammed his canoe, dragging him to the bottom of the river and biting him. pic.twitter.com/PtaTraMTfE

— DI MONAK 🌍 (@ILordOfCruise) September 26, 2024

“I was there really as a sitting duck in the water,” Roland told Sky News. “The hippo came up and grabbed me from underneath and took me down to the bottom of the river before letting me go.”

“That was when it really struck home. I thought, well, perhaps I’m going to die here tonight,” he said.

MALELANE, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 06: A hippo is seen from the 13th green prior to the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club on December 06, 2023 in Malelane, South Africa. (Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)

Roland said he was wedged in the hippo’s jaw and that it took him “a couple of moments to process what’s going on here.”

Shirley managed to swim away from the hippo during the attack, but Roland had suffered a dislocated shoulder from the impact of the hippo hitting the canoe, so he was unable to swim away, according to Sky News.

Not many people survive a hippo attack- but this man did.

Roland Cherry tells @skysarahjane of his miraculous escape whilst on holiday in Zambia 🦛https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/noI70pYLOH

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 25, 2024

Roland said he struggled to survive but was largely unaware of what was happening during the attack. That all changed when he observed his injuries on the river bank.

MALELANE, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 07: Hippopotamus are pictured ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club on December 07, 2022 in Malelane, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

MALELANE, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 07: A Hippopotamus is pictured near the clubhouse ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club on December 07, 2022 in Malelane, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

This aerial view shows hippos stuck in a dried up channel near the Nxaraga village in the Okavango Delta on the outskirts of Maun on April 25, 2024. A drought across southern Africa has been driven mostly by the El Nino weather pattern, not climate change, scientists said. Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi have declared a national disaster over the severe dry spell that started in January and has devastated the agricultural sector, decimating crops and pastures. (Photo by MONIRUL BHUIYAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“I looked down at my thigh, which was very badly chewed up, and I could see flesh sticking out from my shorts, and I could see the blood on my left side as well,” Roland said.

“The abdomen wound … I wasn’t really aware of at the time because it was all covered up by the life vest. So it was really after that, I became aware of how badly injured I was,” he told Sky News. (RELATED: Shocking Video Shows Tommy Lee’s Dog Being Snatched By Coyote)

Thanks to the quick actions of the Mtendere Mission Hospital in Zambia, Roland is expected to make a full recovery. And he’s well aware of just how lucky he is.

Roland said a doctor that treated him in South Africa told him he had “never met somebody who’s survived a hippo attack before.”

Hippopotamuses are known to be very territorial animals and the world’s deadliest large land mammal, killing roughly 500 people ever year in Africa. Sharks and lions kill around 6 and 22 people a year, respectively.