Most people think the deadliest animal in Africa is one of its famed predators; the lion, the cheetah, the crocodile or maybe even a snake like the Black Mamba.
Turns out not to be any of those fearsome creatures, but the hippopotamus that is the most deadly, a fact that Paul Templer knows far too well. Seven-teen years ago Templer was swallowed by one of the behemoths and ended up living to tell the tale.
Templer recently told the story of how he survived the brutal attack as part of The Guardian's "Experience" series and it has captivated people once again.
The 27 year-old Templer was working as a river guide on the Zambezi River, near Victoria Falls. Templer knew the hippo he was attacked by from his many trips down the river, describing him as a "grouchy old two-ton bull" in The Guardian.
The whole attack happened in an instant. Templer carried a .357 Magnum but was unable to use it in time, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"There was a terrible sulphurous smell, like rotten eggs, and a tremendous pressure against my chest," Templer said.
Once the hippo pulled Templer underwater it became a contest of who could hold their breath the longest between him and the hippo.
"I remember looking up through ten feet of water at the green and yellow light playing on the surface, and wondering which of us could hold their breath longer," Templer wrote in The Guardian. "Blood rose from my body in clouds, and a sense of resignation overwhelmed me. I've no idea how long we stayed under - time passes very slowly when you're in a hippo's mouth."
The hippo did tremendous damage to Templer's body, crushing his arm and opening his chest up to expose his lungs. Yet once Templer was able to fight his way out of the mouth of the beast he experienced a calm as he lay on the shore.
"All the pain went away, and I knew that it was my moment of choice," Templer said. "I could shut my eyes, I could drift off, I could call it a day, or I could fight my way through this and I could stick around. The pain was so intense I thought for sure I was going to die. And then when I didn't, there were moments that I wished that I would, just to escape that excruciating agony."
Templer lived and went on to a successful career as a motivational speaker, according to The Huffington Post.
While hippopotamus' don't look nearly as fearsome as lions or tigers might they actually are one of nature's most vicious creatures. This is a lesson that Paul Templer learned the hard way and will most likely never forget.
