“It dragged me under water” — Brave Kwekwe woman (aged 42) tells how she fought off crocodile
A woman from Kwekwe, Rumbidzai Musekiwa from Simbi Village, is recovering at Gweru Provincial Hospital after a terrifying run-in with a crocodile while crossing the Mbembeswana River in February.
The attack left her with serious injuries to her left leg, and she was rushed from Kwekwe District Hospital to Gweru for emergency care. There, a specialistpmarket.
“We were going to the market to sell our goods and were crossing a river. There were several of us, all women. The first person crossed safely, and I was the second person. As I was about to cross the river, I felt a crocodile grab my leg,” Musekiwa said.
“The woman who had already crossed realised that the crocodile was dragging me into deeper water, and she started throwing stones at it to stop it from pulling me into a deep pool.
“At that moment, I noticed there was a tree in the river, and I grabbed onto it. However, the crocodile dragged me away from the tree.
“I then spotted another tree in the river and grabbed it with my left arm while using my right hand to hold the crocodile’s mouth shut.
“It tried to drag me underwater, and I kept gripping its mouth tightly. When it attempted to raise its tail, I would use my right hand to grab the tail, forcing it to lower it again.”
As Musekiwa bravely fought for her life as she wrestled with the giant reptile, her colleagues phoned the people they had left at home to come and assist.
“My colleagues phoned people back at home, and my aunt’s young son ran to the river and jumped into the water together with his mother. They started calling my name, but by then I was already underwater, and they could only see my hand,” narrated Musekiwa.
“The boy dived underwater searching for me, and he managed to lift me with both hands and bring me to the surface, but the crocodile still would not let go.
“He started kicking the crocodile while holding onto my hand, but it continued gripping me. He then began pulling me towards the shallow part of the river while the crocodile dragged me in the opposite direction.
“When we finally reached the shallow water, my aunt entered the river carrying a log, which she shoved into the crocodile’s mouth while kicking it repeatedly.
“That was when the crocodile finally released me, but by then my left leg had been badly broken.”
She added that on the way to Kwekwe District Hospital, her colleagues had bound her wound to stem the bleeding. At the hospital, medical staff tried a blood transfusion before deciding she needed to be transferred to Gweru for more advanced care. *_-Pindula_*
