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In case you needed anymore proof that nature is metal after our earlier story about at least eight people being left bloodied at a beach resort after a piranha attack, here you go.
For this terrifying tale we head to South Africa and the Kruger Trail in Mpumalanga.
It was there that Mark Montgomery, who has been a trail guide since 1998, encountered a crocodile who didn’t take too kindly to him taking a little water from the Metsi Metsi River.
The first two scoops of water went without any issue, but after his third scoop, he explained to Lowvelder, “I looked and the crocodile’s head was dead still under the surface. There wasn’t even a ripple or anything. I think I pulled my hand back. If I hadn’t, it would have gotten my arm. The part from seeing the head to realizing I’m in the water myself, is not even in my brain. It was that fast. It is literally, he grabs my hand and you hear the water.”
Montgomery said one of the guests in the group he was out hiking with jumped into the water to try and save him, but the crocodile was too fast.
While being held underwater by the crocodile, Montgomery said he put his hand around the creature’s neck to try and get to its eyes or its mouth to try and pry his other hand free.
As he was kicking and fighting with the crocodile the animal started turning so he did the same, only in the opposite direction. It was then that he felt the monster unclench his hand from its mouth.
“At that moment I lurched to the surface,” he recalled. “The bank was about 1.6m away. I lunged and lunged and grabbed the roots of a stunted jackalberry on the other side. In the meantime, I’m picturing this crocodile grabbing me from the back into the water. I lurched so strongly, I partially tore my right hamstring; the left one is bruised.”
Once he reached shore, a medical team was called and he was transported to a hospital.
The resulting injuries from the crocodile attack required three surgeries to repair and pins and plates placed into his hand. He says he should be able to regain close to full use of his hand by the time it is fully healed and rehabilitated.
As for whether he will continue as a trail guide for the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa, he said that he will, but added that next time he scoops water out of the river he might just use a bucket and rope.