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Man escapes from jaws of hippo that bit off his legs – PHOTOS


Twenty three year-old, Enock Romano is lucky to be alive after surviving a hippo attack that left him maimed.

Still on an emotional roller-coaster, the young fisherman keeps staring at his amputated legs at the Naivasha sub-county hospital.

Tears flowed freely as he narrated his close brush with death on Saturday on the shores of Lake Naivasha.

On the fateful morning, he was in a group of four others from Kasarani area who were preparing to get into the lake for a fishing expedition. As he pushed his boat in the lake, the water level waist-high, he missed sight of the hippo that was swimming underwater towards him.

“I have been a fisherman for close to two years and had never been attacked by the animals,” he opened up, grimacing in pain.

“It (the hippo) grabbed both legs and bit me hard. I screamed before it let me go,” he told journalists.

“I’ve never spotted the animal moving inside the waters. I was shocked and in a state of confusion,” he added.

PHOTO | MACHARIA MWANGI
PHOTO | MACHARIA MWANGI

He quickly signaled his friends to come to his rescue and was subsequently rushed to the Naivasha sub-county hospital while bleeding profusely.

Doctors managed to control the bleeding before taking him to the theater to amputate both his legs.

According to the nurse in charge of the male ward Ms Susan Kamau, the victim is responding well to treatment.

“He suffered severe leg injuries leading to the amputation, but he is now out of danger,” she said.

Mr Ramon breaks in tears every time he looks at his bandaged leg stumps. He is appealing to well-wishers to come to his aid.

“Although I am happy to have survived the ordeal, I am yet to come to terms with the tragedy that befell me,” he confessed.

The number of victims of hippo attacks in Lake Naivasha spine keeps growing. Just a few metres from Mr Romano’s hospital bed, another victim John Gichinga is also recuperating from a similar attack.

“I am lucky to have escaped with my life after the attack,” he said.