Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2004 8:18 PM
Zim Hyena attack

An Encounter on the Wild Side

Do you ever have times when your own words come back to you? Each term I
choose a key word and base my assemblies around this word. In the middle
term
2003 I chose the word "Challenges, and in the 3rd term - "Attitude". The
stories, homilies, quotations, etc that I spoke to the children about
certainly set
me up for my start to 2004.

I had joined family and friends, about 14 of us, for a New Year fishing and
camping trip at Mongwe, 30kms downstream from Chirundu, on the banks of the
Zambezi. My husband had opted not to come as he reckoned he'd done enough
camping in his lifetime. We had been having an idyllic time, fishing,
cruising,
eating, drinking, talking - as one does on the banks of that incredible
river.
On the 2nd January we'd spent the morning fishing, had drifted down the
river for a late afternoon sundowner, had returned to camp, had a wonderful
meal
- in true Zimbabwe fashion we had taken two cooks with us who even managed
to
produce freshly baked bread each day. At about 9.30 we all decided to
retire
for the night. Isn't it amazing how tired one gets doing nothing all day?

I settled into my little tent (one of those 2-man jobbies made for
undersized midgets!). It was extremely hot so after about an hour of
tossing and
turning I decided to sleep on the stretcher I had outside my tent. The tent
was
too small for the stretcher to fit inside. I must admit, that as I arranged
my
pillow and sheet on the stretcher, the thought of hyenas did cross my mind
but I instantly dismissed the idea and was soon fast asleep.

At 10 to 12 I was jerked to wakefulness by the sound of the scrunching of
bone and the most disgusting smell, as a hyena bit into my face and hand
and
started dragging me. I screamed and screamed, thinking that my end was in
sight!! It must have been only a few seconds before the brute, realising
that he'd
bitten off more than he could chew, let me go and vanished into the night.
As I knelt in the dirt, the blood pouring from my face, I realised that my
hands and feet still worked and that I could still think so I must be all
right!!

My son-in-law, Trevor Gilbert and a friend picked me up and carried me to a
thatched A-frame, where they sat me in the light. My daughter Jenna and her
friend Kim then proceeded to clean up all my wounds and bandage them. What
a
dreadful thing for a daughter to have to do for her mother but both she and
Kim managed superbly. Trevor and my ex-husband (you can work that one out
for
yourself) then drove me to the hospital in Kariba, encountering many
elephants
en-route, some of whom were not too keen to get out of our way. Arriving at
2.30am at Kariba, we met the only piece of negativity we found when the
duty
nurses told us to go on to Harare as they had no facilities. Luckily, two
Cuban doctors appeared and immediately put me on a drip, administered pain
killers, gave me an anti-tetanus injection, rabies vaccine and sewed up my
thumb,
apologising that they could do nothing for my face. They really gave me a
good Z$120 worth.

In the meantime, after many phone calls, Trevor managed to get hold of my
sister in Harare who contacted MARS, who agreed to come and fetch me. As
there
was an air-controllers' strike in prgoress they were only able to land in
Kariba when it was light. Here the pilots apologised for not arriving
sooner.
The MARS doctor and sister were superb, very efficient and reassuring.
During
the flight they radioed ahead to the Avenues Clinic for a receiving surgeon
to
be waiting for me and to have a plastic surgeon on stand-by. Upon my arrival
at the Clinic, things went pretty much according to the movies, where I was
handed over to the doctors and plastic surgeon, x-rayed, prepared for
theatre,
operated on, then sent to the wards. Contrary to what I had been led to
believe, my treatment and nursing was second to none and I have nothing but
praise for all the people who attended to me. They were all highly skilled
and
very caring. We are so fortunate in this country to have so many dedicated
and
highly tought of specialists still practising here.

Meanwhile my poor husband, who was in Chipinge had been told by me elder
daughter Alison, who lives in Middle Sabi, that I had been attacked and
dragged
by my head by a hyena - the message she had received. Fearing the worse, he
packed his funeral suit and set off for Harare, planning my service and
choosing hymns on the way. He actually was highly relieved to see me alive!
I am
sure that I was on half the prayer lists in the country upon my arrival in
Harare and probably most of the others by the time I was in theatre. It was
incredible how quickly the news spread. I do believe that I am living proof
that
prayers are answered. From the moment that hyena let go of me, everything
was
positive. I did lose my eye but the surgeon managed to re-attach my
eye-lid,
which is a big plus for holding in a false eye, and still has hopes of
finding tear ducts. After the first op he thought he would have to do a
couple of
skin grafts, but during the second op, ten days later, he found that it
wasn't
necessry. The bone man managed to put my very "graunched" hand back
together
with skewers and thinks I will probably get full movement back. Having been
for various neuro-scans, it appears that the nerves in both my face and
hands
are working --more or less.

I still have a long way to go, but think that by the end of the year and a
few more ops I should be as good as new, complete with a matching glass
eye.
My face, especially the eyelid, is very swollen, needing to be massaged for
at
least half an hour three times a day. This, my husband does. I then lie
back
and revel in the joys of formication (note the letter "m") following the
stimulation to my face. I never cease to be amazed at my recovery and have
been
back at school for three weeks. I really have no hang-ups about my injuries
or disfigurement. I think it is something to do with this half empty/half
full
thing. Much worse things happen to other people. I am still alive. My
injuries could have been much more horrific. The response of my family and
friends
has been wonderful. The prayers, support, good wishes, flowers and gifts
given to us by so many have been unbelievable.

Zimbabwe is still a very caring society to live in. People see what needs
doing and do it. I arrived home to a full freezer and fridge and a house
full
of flowers and meals. My little school was in perfect running order, as I
knew
it would be.

Life is good. Take up the challenge and be positive!!!

Di Paterson

19th February 2004
Chipinge

Kathi

That's an extremely lucky lady in that she had immediate care and that she can recover with a good attitude. After seeing pictures of Hyaena attack victims, thank god she can get plastic surgery to replace damaged tissues. Knock On Wood, Baby!

Hard to keep a good Zim down, eh?

And you think you have troubles!!

Damn, after a story like that I am going to work on a more positve outlook on life. Thanks for sharing.

Bravery has no gender. A special person, indeed.

What an attitude. May God enable her to sustain it.

I lost my right leg below the knee in an accident and have been very thankful that it wasn't worse. I have my other leg, my sight, my hands and most of my mind left.

It must be especially tough for a woman to lose her eye and be disfigured.

When sleeping outside in camp in East Africa that is exactly the image I had when trying to fall asleep.

This hasn't helped my African outdoors sleeping insomnia.

What a positve girl in the story too.

That is exactly the kind of incident I tell my students about when pointing out the fact that they live in an amazingly padded and protected world here. Other parts of this planet aren't so lucky! It's also part of my explanation of why nobody likes hyenas.

I can only hope I coyuld display half this Lady's composure in a time of great trial. My word!

Thank you, Kathi, for the story. Really hit home.
Max

If you knew the lady concerned you would all be amaized! And to see her, two days later, face bandaged trying to keep her buisness running (not an easy task in Zimbabwe) was even more encouraging.

Having picked up at three such sceens over the years and shot a Hyaena that was litterally standing on top of my bed and me, I can offer the following advice.

1) Always sleep under a mosquito net- it doesn't just keep the mossies off ( Malaria, elephantisis, yellow fever, etc etc) but it also offers remarkable protection agains both lion and hyaena that fancy you as a meal. The Hyaena that now rests as a rug in the lounge was trying to get its teeth unhooked from the net when a .41 trashed her day. Another ecologist, Kevin Dunham, had a similar experience ( and shot six hyaenas in his kitchen) whilst two of my game scouts had close encounters and were saved by their nets. One had a similar run in with a lion and was able to leave mrs leo tearing angrilly at the net while he climbed the tree.

2) keep a firearm handy