Before we get into today's story, I wanted to jump on and
give a quick disclaimer. If you're someone who is
bothered by descriptive details regarding injuries and medical
procedures, I would suggest listening until the point where
Kristin returns back to shore from her encounter, enjoy the
story. I took about two strokes to get
towards the shoreline and that's when I was immediately grabbed
and dragged under it immediately started thrashing me side to
side, whatever it wanted to do with me.
I just needed to survive from HP Studio.
This is unnerved. Welcome back to the unnerve
podcast, where normal people share their abnormal stories and
if you enjoy true, stories of the strange and terrifying, then
you're in the right place. I'm your host Chris Fricke.
Traveling to a foreign country and exploring.
The local culture is one of the best ways to gain perspective
and enjoy the world. We live in every country has its
own unique aspects to see and experience the people food music
Landscapes and Wildlife over 30 million people.
Go on a safari every year in Africa and the chance to see
animals in the wild is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The key is to do it at a safe distance.
When you think of deadly African Wildlife, you might assume Lions
take the top spot, but that title is reserved for another
land mammal. it boasts caused an estimated 500 deaths every year
in Lyons only 22, In 2018 Kristen and her husband, Ryan
decided to visit Zimbabwe to celebrate Kristen's 37th
birthday. The Safari they went on was
everything they had hoped for but they soon learned that
hippos can be as dangerous as they are fascinating.
The encounter that Kristen had that day would change her life
forever. This is her story, my husband
Ryan and I decided to book a wonderful birthday trip to
Zimbabwe to see the wonderful Victoria Falls, which is one of
the natural wonders that we have never seen.
And has been on our bucket list for some time and his family
lives in Johannesburg. So we decided to to make it a
long Thanksgiving /. Birthday trip for me and
celebrate with family overseas and to also enjoy a safari trip
and a most wonderful experience with this natural wonder.
We visited with family and Johannesburg for a few days and
then we flew up to Zimbabwe and enjoyed our very first evening
out to see the Victoria Falls. And the next morning, we had our
first Safari trip out into the Zambezi National Park.
We were on a safari ride and that took us throughout the park
to see amazing animals. And for our lunch stop happen to
be a Just close to the water but not extremely close to the
water. And we were very curious to
possibly get a photo with the landscape and the water and
maybe see some birds and small animals.
And I remembered vaguely that gentleman saying, don't go too
close. We're not going to walk away
from the vehicle. We don't want to go there and
there might be some animals and in the area in general and so we
just enjoyed our lunch and the vehicle but I did make note of
where we were at, which happened to be picnic site, 24, but we
enjoyed that day. We had a couple of more days of
safari trips. Going through different Parks.
We went to Wayne gay, we did just self Drive Through Safari
parks and some private reserves. And some of the larger National
reserves, the morning of my birthday, we decided that we
were going to have a relaxing canoe trip.
We enjoy photography. Much and the perspective of
being lower to your subject gives you a better angle for
those photos. So we thought this would be a
good opportunity. A relaxing morning, canoeing
down the Zambezi River, having an enjoyable lunch and then a
nice romantic evening out, and having a wonderful dinner that
morning we drove into the park and as we made our way through
the park, we passed the picnic site that we were at that very
first Safari trip that we did. A Little bit north of that.
We ended up doing our launch into our canoe trip.
So, we knew right where we were in the general vicinity, we're
just getting ready to canoe off Ryan and I have plenty of
experience doing canoe trip since we travel often and we're
from Florida. So we do this quite often and he
did make a mention of if you fall out swim to the closest
Shore and Ryan and I thought that was kind of strange.
Why would we fall out where were pros at this practically?
Because we have a lot of Experience on the water in
general and we used to scuba dive.
And we're very familiar with those types of environments.
So we didn't really think anything of it.
But, you know, they launched a sin.
It was three canoe total. The first one had a guide and
one other tourist, the second canoe was with Ryan.
And I and I was in the front, Ryan was in the back and the
third canoe had one more guide. So we were all in a line on the
right hand side, which is where we launched from.
And And not even a couple of minutes Downstream.
The gentleman in the front canoe had binoculars and said he saw a
group of hippos up on the right hand side and we then needed to
proceed to the middle of the river, which looks like the left
side because of the levels of the water in the Zambezi River
at that time. So it looks like the left but
it's actually an island within the middle of the large entire
river that you can't see. So, we were over on that side,
but Ryan and I, we were a little bit off to the side of the front
canoe that just put a slightly more into the deeper section of
the water. We were definitely as far over
to the left side of that bank, as we could be, but just Ryan
and I, we weren't 100% in line. We were just slightly out past
the first canoe, and I glanced over to see if I could see that
group of hippos and I didn't see anything but just one hippo.
Back submerge didn't see its head, didn't see a group of
them, just one back, go under, and it was all the way on the
other side of this River, I started looking forward.
We started paddling continuing on.
We were following along with a guy and then out of nowhere,
underneath our canoe, a hump of a back, came up under a canoe
with an upward Force, full motion, and launched Ryan.
And I into the air and the way that it hit the canoe, You in
the middle, it was a blow up canoe so it bent the canoe and
half almost and where I fell forward.
And Ryan had fallen backwards towards the shallow side as soon
as we popped up with our life vests, we immediately started to
try to swim. I was a little bit further out
and I could see Ryan, but he couldn't see me because the
canoe was kind of in the between us and I took about two strokes
to get towards the is the shoreline and that's when I was
immediately grabbed and dragged under
Instinctually, I don't know how or why, but I managed to get a
full entire grasp of air before I was young thunder.
So immediately, I went into survival mode and I knew I had
to conserve my are as much as possible.
As soon as it pulled me down, it immediately started thrashing me
side to side, very similar to a dog with a toy in its mouth, it
was just back and forth. I didn't know how long I would
be down there to know how long I would be in its mouth, whatever
it wanted to do with me. I just needed to survive.
I knew exactly where it was on my leg and in order to not be
thrashed around. So violently, I shrug together
around its face on my leg and essentially held on In that
moment, I tried to grab it at face.
I know I'm not strong enough to let it go or to open it and pry,
it open. But I knew where it was and I
figured if I could at least grab at it and yank on something,
maybe I could spook it and it would release me, everybody
always asks, why didn't you poke at it sighs?
That's you know, the thing to do and my answer is I don't know
where incisor at? I'm in murky dirty water, I've
never been so up close. To it out of us before.
But with the spatial of knowing that it was exactly on my entire
full leg. I knew right where its mouth
was. So that was my instinct was to
grab it at the face and to try to pry its mouth open and I
could feel that it was leathery and spiky because of the
whiskers on its face and it snows, but somehow someway me
doing that or me just staying calm.
I don't know if it thought I was dead or in jail.
Me touching its face, spooked it.
But it let me go. Immediately popped up to the
surface at that point because of my life jacket, that's when the
next part of survival kicked in. During that time, I would
estimate. I was down under the water for
about 45 seconds since I was almost out of breath as a child
swimming in the pools. A lot with my sister and brother
we used to play games of who could stay down the longest and
you would hold your breath and you'd have to recycle your air
or sometimes you'd agree swallow it to feel like you were able to
get just a little bit more. Well I was at that point so I
was very close to probably passing out Out and losing my
life and having all of those different life experiences with
being so into sports and doing triathlons and races and scuba
diving and even scuba diving with sharks, you learn to
conserve your air and have good breathing techniques.
And and that short amount of time, I was able to hold on,
stay calm enough. And when I came up, I grabbed
that breath of air. I was facing the direction I
needed to go towards the shore. A line which is where Ryan had
made his way to the shore. I could see him trying to run to
meet up with me. Since I had drifted slightly
further down in front of where the first guide and the tourist
were at. So I immediately started trying
to kick my legs and swim and I couldn't swim.
My leg didn't work. I kept trying to kick and
nothing happened. And first immediately thought my
knee is broken. And I yelled to them.
I said I can't swim. My knee is broken Split.
Second thinking just I turned over and I just started a
backstroke. I was only a couple of Strokes
away, probably about 5 to where the guide on the shore.
Took his canoe paddle and reached it out over the water to
where I could then grab it and you could just pull me the rest
of the way to him. By the time that happened.
Ryan had ran down the shoreline and reached him.
They brought me. Onto the shore.
They both pick me up and at that point when they did that I could
see that my leg was completely torn open.
I could see my muscle, I could piece of muscle was actually
torn and sitting on top of my leg.
It was still slightly attached but it was sitting on top, all
of my skin from the middle of my thigh to my knee was completely
missing from where it should be, I didn't know it at the time but
I ended up with more skin that was ripped off.
I had teeth marks and puncture wounds that I couldn't see, I
could only just see this. Gaping hole in the middle of my
leg, they put me in the the canoe on the shoreline and they
wanted to try to figure out how to position me and move me
around. And I used to work in medical
environments. I'm nowhere near any
Professional Medical Training or anything, but I do know from all
of these different people I've worked with and TV shows and
things like that. That if somebody's that injured,
you put them in one spot. You don't move them until actual
professional comes. So that was my my next Instinct
survivals. Don't move me.
Don't touch me. You know, I was starting to be
in pain and I didn't realize why turns out.
It wasn't just my skin. That was torn apart in my
muscle. I also ended up with a
completely broken femur that I was holding my entire leg up by
the one inside muscle which was causing me pain at the time.
And I had asked him for some pills and cocaine pills.
And he came by with some little red.
Pills in his hand. And I said, what is that?
And I don't even remember what I said, but I just decided I was
like, no, I don't know what they are.
I don't know how it's going to react with my body.
It could end up, you know, making my blood thinner or my
heart race more. And if there was any chance that
I was going to survive, I needed to make sure that I had nothing
in my body or causing anything else to possibly, bleed out more
than it might be. But in all of that, I was not
really bleeding. Eating a lot.
It was mostly all just surface from the skin being to gloved
and torn apart to the side. And the one big puncture wound
on my quad, that I ended up losing a golf ball size on my
quad, but everything else for the most part I noticed that my
toes were working. I wiggled my toes.
So I told them if I pass out and Medics come that they must tell
them, do not amputate my leg, my toes work.
That was the only thing I was I was worried about was that I'm
in a foreign country, I don't, I've never been to the major
hospital. I've never broken a major bone.
I don't know what they would be thinking, but my answer is.
I know my toes work. Don't do anything.
Ryan actually had given me his cellphone on the ride in the
canoe since I was in the front so I was kind of Manning the
photos on the trip and at the last minute I happen to put it
in a zippered pocket in my pants, which happened to be the
opposite side that got attacked and ripped apart.
It was also his iPhone. That was waterproof that he
ended up using to call for help the guides.
Their phones are only working for Zimbabwe and we were too far
in the middle of the river closer to Zambia that their cell
phones didn't work and where we had taken off from the canoe,
the walkie-talkie to the driver. Also didn't work because he was
too far out of range and hasn't caught up to us yet to where we
are on the canoe trip, because he was still packing up.
We had only just launched about five minutes up the river, so
they couldn't reach him. He was considering that we canoe
across to the other side, where the vehicle would end up.
Catching up to us, which is where I said, brought me back to
day. The exact place that I got
attacked at was where I had lunch on day.
One, Safari picnics, like 24. That's how we knew exactly,
where we were. And when Ryan realized that
their phones and their walkie-talkie didn't work at all
Ryan, called our hotel, our concierge and told him, what
happened exactly where we were and that we needed medical
attention immediately. They're the ones that called for
help, they called the tour operator, which also does
helicopter Safari. Doors there as well.
They ended up getting the nurse ambulances, and medical support
to their tourist facility, in order to convert a helicopter to
come out saving. So it ended up taking 45
minutes, roughly to get a helicopter to me.
And luckily, I was not bleeding out at the time because I knew
that if I was, I had less than 10 minutes to live.
That was my fear and my worry, and I wanted to instill extra
panic and to the guy In trying to get me somebody to come out
and save me kept telling them. If I'm bleeding out, I have 10
minutes and if you don't get me somebody I'm going to die and
it's going to be on you. But luckily enough that was not
the case since it was all mostly skin and surface level other
than the femur break, which luckily didn't hit anything
major, but in that 45 minutes while I was sitting on the bank
as well, I told Ryan, I need to call my mom.
I knew from when I was a teenager that We had gotten in a
slight car accident from high school, and she always told me
if something happened to call her immediately.
Let her nose and let her know if everything's okay, or I'm in
Africa. So, the time difference was not
very good to call and wake her up, but I knew I needed to talk
with her in case, something happened.
Unfortunately, when I called her, she did answer but the
first words out of her mouth were, are you calling for me to
sing you happy birthday? Because it was my birthday and
Africa time. It was also my birthday birth
time and she always calls me on my birthday at my birth.
Time to sing me. Happy Birthday.
So she she thought I was calling her to have her sing to me.
So I had to tell her no, I said I was on the canoe Safari.
I got attacked by a hippopotamus.
I'm waiting for medical attention.
I said, as of right now, I'm okay.
And a little bit of pain, but I'm waiting for help and Ryan
will have to keep you posted. So, of course, she was naturally
freaked out and talked with her very long because Ryan wanted to
make some other phone calls to figure out what was going on and
what was happening from the concierge to getting the
helicopter. But in the meantime, I just kept
my heart rate down and try to ignore the slight pain that I
was having in my my leg from holding up my entire leg at a
awkward angle. Try not to be in the heat.
I had them put a hat on me and kind of keep me in the shade so
that way I wasn't getting overly.
It in the sun or anything like that, but eventually the
helicopter came and they can land in the middle of the island
per se. They put me on a stretcher and
had to figure out how to fit me into this converted helicopter,
that wasn't a medical helicopter, so that took a
little bit of angling and wiggling around, but Ryan,
myself and the two medical staff.
Plus the helicopter pilot we all fit in and we're on our way, I
Guess it's my personality. But during that flight, since
we're no longer owner canoe trip, we turned out to have a
helicopter ride. I started cracking jokes and
telling them, you know, I thought the helicopter trip
would be a better idea. And is he seeing the falls at
least and getting getting a good view?
I think they were a little shocked that I was being so
humorous, in a dire situation, but I wasn't feeling dire
because I knew I had already had so much time.
Time that I must not. I'm not feeling faint.
I'm not passing out you know. I could see my wound and I kind
of have that general knowledge that I didn't feel totally like
I'm going to die anymore. So that was a probably I think
about it. 20-ish minute flight, but they took you to the tourist
take off. So then from there they had to
transport me to the local hospital and from there they
they were not normal. What I would think of a doctor
they were in street clothes. They, they didn't have their
professional attire on. So I wasn't quite sure where I
was and how professional or knowledgeable?
They would be, they did take me in.
Lee and did an x-ray, which I could swear that this was
probably one of the very first x-ray machines.
It probably was ever created. I know it was regular film,
slide machine so I know it was definitely old at that time.
He told me I had a hairline fracture in my femur, which I
knew then that meant I didn't need surgery but I come later to
find out after the experience and getting to my true final
Hospital in Africa at the main Trauma Center.
That it was a full Like the hospital in Joe and Zimbabwe
didn't have even medical supplies at the hospital.
So the doctor says, I need saline or I need, you know, a
tetanus shot. I need this or that, they don't
have any of that at the hospital.
So the concierge met Ryan at the hospital because he had called
the hotel. So the main person had met him
there. And the doctor said, I need X,
Y, and Z, and the concierge actually drove into town and
went and got the supplies. That the doctor said he needed.
So all I really remember from that first hospital visit was
that they opened up a couple bags of saline to wash my wound
out. They gave me a tetanus shot, I
think they gave me some pain medicine at that point and then
they just told me I had the hairline fracture, I had to wait
quite a few hours for a medical flight to leave Zimbabwe to fly
to Johannesburg. They flew the medical flight
from the capital of Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls Airport which
actually This early. So the airport had to arrange to
stay open late in order for the flight to come in and to fly me
out. So they transported me there it
was a two and a half hour flight to Johannesburg and then we had
a transfer to the main Trauma Center, which was very close to
where Ryan's family lived. So we at least were very close
to people that we knew and that could support him and myself for
however long I was going to end up needing to be there.
We arrived pretty late. I believe close to midnight.
Night at the end of my birthday and they immediately did the
full Gambit of tests, CT scans x-rays the whole in, and out of
everything with him without contrasts.
I remember that making me a little bit ill being in the
machine since I hadn't eaten all day either.
And they told me that they definitely said my femur was
broken, and I immediately had to go into surgery for the femur to
be repaired. So, they turned around and did
the surgery. Right then and there and he put
in a full femur ride slightly shorter.
Just because of the open wound damage, I had close to the knee
and two pins on the top and the bottom.
The next morning they had to coordinate getting a plastic
surgeon. No one had told between Zimbabwe
to Johannesburg that I had a large open wound.
So they only had an orthopedic on standby for the femur.
Choo. So they had to coordinate a
plastic surgeon which they did and then I had to have surgery
every other day to clean the wound.
Remove the dead skin and make sure all that was taken care of
over the course of the time. So I didn't get any other
infections. I think I had about seven
surgeries during my two additional week, stay at the
hospital in Johannesburg and during each of those surgeries
they call it debrief Mentor debridement to where To remove
any dead tissues. So the main issue with my injury
is because I went so long from the incident time to having to
travel. And then the next full day,
getting to a doctor that could take care of the situation, more
of my skin was dying off. So, during each of those
surgeries they were cutting away more dead skin, the piece of the
Quad muscle, that was poked essentially and torn off, but
still slightly connected that had to be removed.
There was no reattaching that the skin that got torn away,
that was damaged, totally and dying off.
They cut that off. Anything else that was still
remaining. That was good.
And maybe just loved, which just means, it's got a full
separation between your skin and fat layer to your muscle layer.
That skin, they were able to keep and save so that way I
didn't have more total volume of loss.
I did also have on the back of my knee skin, that was totally
ripped off the back, all the way down to the ligaments and
tendons. So you could see all of those
directly on my leg. They were able to save a good
portion of that skin. That was just hanging but I did
lose some of the skin, on the back of my knee as well.
They wouldn't close up any Cuts or scratches or gashes that were
sewable or Stitch, able or Or stapled anything that they could
possibly close till the bacteria was 100% gone.
I ended up with two bacteria types from the water.
Not from the animal itself, but just because of the water being
so dirty from having animal feces and just general bacteria.
So from that they had me on antibiotics and I was ended up
being in the hospital in Johannesburg for an additional
two weeks. And then at that time, they
prepped me for Being a medical flight home to Tampa, which I
ended up having to do to private medical flights, seven stops
home and it took 36 hours to be transported the entire way.
And then I was at the local Tampa hospital here, turns out
to be another two full weeks. And when I've got to Tampa, they
wanted to just do their own battery of tests.
So all everything all over again.
Full x-rays CT, Scans. The orthopedic didn't like how
he had done the surgery in Africa.
So they immediately wanted to take me in for redoing the femur
rod and pins to make it a full true length.
Femur on to be a strong as possible turns out as well.
I ended up with a blood clot. In my arm, due to bad practices,
from then putting in the IV needles, they had the plastic
tubing from the back, bottom of the IVs.
I believe it's called Lassiter actually broke off in my arm
from one of the nurses removing it and they had to remove that
during one of my debridement surgeries, they had to
surgically, cut it out, and remove it out of my vein.
So, that procedure actually caused me a slight blood clot,
which I was unaware of and not good to fly with, but I was
lucky enough that it was a minor one and they ended up taking
care of that in Tampa as well. So between all those procedures,
I ended up with a skin graft on the front of my legs.
Leg and the back of my knee to where I had to be immobilized
for a month after I was released.
And I finally got out just believe three days before New
Year. So, total I was in the hospital
just about, I believe, 28 days. So from there, it was an endless
number of surgeries and doctors, appointments and therapy for
trying to reuse my leg. I couldn't move my foot, you
know, at all moving it up and down my entire Like I couldn't
move, I had to physically, pick it up and move it.
I didn't have any muscle strength.
I didn't have any of the standard ability so I couldn't
drive, I couldn't walk, I was on a walker, I switched to
crutches, I graduating to a cane.
Once I finally got some movement and motion, But ultimately,
because of losing the skin, on the front of my knee, it caused
me to have mobility issues. With my range of motion, mostly
bending my knee and due to that, I Had a wonderful team of
doctors. I told them, this is my life.
I'm young. I have so many more things that
I want to do and I can't be limited by.
This range of motion is not something that I want to live
with. So as many surgeries is it's
going to take whatever types of surgeries it's going to take, I
don't care. There's got to be an option.
There's got to be a way and every single one listen to me,
they agreed with me, they gave me alternative options, When we
thought there was nothing for them to do, they pass me to the
next doctor that they knew out of all of those.
I've currently am now at surgery, 22, my range of motion.
After three full years of physical therapy is just about
back to normal. I can fully Squad, I can bend my
knee, it's just that I'm still in.
Probably my always be working through strength issues since I
lost the part of my quad but I have to learn to Eight and other
ways. So I'm still working on that,
but it's definitely progressing and getting better the vacation
nightmare for at a couple traveling.
In Africa, the American Tourist hospitalized after an encounter
with a hippo in Zimbabwe. She's now, breaking her silence
telling all about those terrifying moments, how she
survived Kristen, and her husband Ryan were on Safari in
the African nation of Zimbabwe. When the unthinkable took place,
I saw that it popped up underneath her canoe.
And not long after Kristen's. Attack news media from around
the world, caught wind of her story and wanted to interview
her about her. Incredible Story of Survival
Kristen's determination to not only survived a traumatic
experience but Thrive has been an inspiration to people around
the world. Since she has begun her
recovery, she has accomplished more than many people do in a
lifetime. I did.
Did my very first marathon, only a month ago.
I have never have done one. Never wanted to do one.
It was a challenge and each part of my progression, my husband
knows, I'm very goal-driven and I couldn't even walk when he
brought up the fact of me trying to do a 5k again as a comeback.
And I agreed, I said, I can't walk right now, but I will do
whatever I can to get back to where I was and the That I
enjoyed. So I finally feel like I'm back
to almost where I was. I know I won't be 100% but I'm
happy with where I'm at and that I'm progressing and you know,
I'm enjoying the things that brought us to that situation
before we're traveling again or doing photography which is what
we love exploring new places. And you know as dangerous has
the animals are that's what we enjoy seeing and doing and being
in their natural. Meant, so we've got plenty more
of those trips to do. And what's the chance of
something like this happening again?
Perhaps like me. You've noticed how calm and
sensible Kristen is when faced with a life-threatening
situation, people often Panic, which tends to escalate the
danger, Kristen's, courage, and level-headedness, probably
helped to save her life that fateful day.
The day, she fought her way out of the jaws of a hippo Thanks
again for listening to unnerved. If you enjoyed this episode,
please share it with your friends and leave a review
wherever you, get your podcast, if you guys want to see photos
related to each episode, be sure to follow our Instagram at
unnerved podcast there. You'll be able to see photos
from Kristen Safari trip and if you guys want to follow Kristin
and her recovery Journey, go to her website at the hippo girl.
Dot-com. You can also find Kristen and
Ryan's photography business at Yale door.
Photography.com, all of these links will be in the show notes.
Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time.
Dot-com. You can also find Kristen and
Ryan's photography business at Yale door.
Photography.com, all of these links will be in the show notes.
Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time.