A 13-year-old boy from Checheche narrowly escaped death after he was attacked by a crocodile recently while crossing Save River with his friends.
Danmore Gwenzi fought the reptile with bare hands after it had grabbed his thigh.
He poked his hand into the mouth of the crocodile and it let loose its grip but removed a chunk of his flesh.
His friends ran away and alerted villagers who then rushed to the scene where they found Danmore on the riverbank.
The teenager was rushed to St Peter’s Hospital in Chisumbanje where he was admitted.
Danmore and his mother spoke to The Manica Post about the attack. The boy said:
We were crossing the Save River with my friends. The water was ankle high and we thought no crocodiles would be lurking there.
As we were about to reach the riverbank, the crocodile suddenly latched on me. It grabbed me on the thigh and I gathered some courage and poked my hand into its mouth.
The crocodile loosened its grip and I managed to wobble to safety. Other villagers then came to my rescue.
His mother Marita Gwenzi said they were struggling with paying the hospital bills. She said:
My son had a brush with death. I am happy he managed to survive. Danmore needs to be stitched and have a skin graft on his thigh. However, we are struggling to pay the bills.
Last week, Cabinet adopted the establishment of a relief fund to cushion victims of human-wildlife conflicts but it is not clear if the Fund is now operational
