Paul Templer, the man who miraculously survived after being swallowed by a hippo three times, lost his arm after the incident.

After fighting against an angry hippo and being swallowed three times, Paul managed to survive.

He was working as a tour guide in Zimbabwe and he had been in the area a hundred times. But one day, while he was out on the waters near Victoria Falls, an angry hippo attacked them.

In an interview with LADbible, Paul shared: “I was out with three fellow guides and some tourists when we came across a group of hippos in the water. They weren’t too close by – and while I felt a bit of apprehension, I believed we were on a safe route.

“However, suddenly I heard a huge splash and a crashing sound and I saw that a hippo had hit one of the other canoes. The boat flipped out of the water and into the hippo’s back – in doing so, my colleague was thrown into the water.

“There were some rocks nearby and I shouted to my nearest colleague to take everyone back there to safety. Then I went off to try and find the other guide.”

Paul continued: “I was paddling over to my colleague. When I saw the hippo coming towards me under water – it was like a submarine torpedo as it made its way towards my canoe.

“Suddenly, everything went dark and quiet and it took a few seconds for me to realise what had happened.

“From the waist up I felt like I wasn’t really wet, but I wasn’t really dry. I could feel a sort of pressure on my lower back and with one of my arms I could feel around, and I felt bristles.

“Immediately what went through my mind was, ‘at least I know I’m not in a crocodile’ and then my next thought was ‘I need to get out’.”

He added: “The hippo began to shake me around, while I struggling to get away. Then the hippo spat me out. As I made my way to the surface, I spotted the other guide, whom I had been trying to save, and we swam away.”

As they tried to get back to land, the angry hippo returned and swallowed Paul.

“I’d been swallowed up again,” he expressed. “And this time, it really started thrashing me around – the best way I can think of to describe it, is like a dog tossing around a rag doll.

“I tried to reach for my gun but it was throwing me around so much I wasn’t able to reach it.”

Paul was also trying not to drown as the hippo threw him into the water and spat him out again.

“I thought he was going to bite me in half and I saw my blood mixing with the water and I remember thinking, ‘will I bleed to death or will I drown?’ I felt very detached – like nothing I did would have any effect,” he shared.

His body was injured from the attack while his friend unfortunately lost his life. His left arm was crushed and blood poured from multiple wounds, one so deep his colleague said that his lung was visible.

Paul’s colleague used clingfilm from a tray of good to stop his lung from collapsing. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors initially thought he would lose one of his legs and both arms.

Fortunately, surgeons managed to save his injured leg and right arm.

It was a painful and slow recovery. Paul said he felt guilty over the death of his colleague.

He now works as a motivational speaker to encourage and inspire others. He also wrote a book ‘What’s Left Of Me.’

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