5 Days Before Her Wedding, Crocodile Attacks and Eats Bride's Arm
Zanele Ndlovu and her fiancé, Jamie Fox, had the perfect wedding planned.
After months of carefully selecting the venue, theme, and more, the moment had nearly arrived.
On April 30, just five days before the wedding, Zanele and Jamie decided to go canoeing down the Zambezi river in Africa. But before long, tragedy struck.
Suddenly, an 8-foot crocodile came up out of the water and viciously attacked them. The animal managed to bite Zanele before dragging her out of the canoe and into the water.
Jaimie was thrown from the boat in the opposite direction while his bride-to-be attempted to free herself.
“The canoe started deflating and it all happened so fast. The crocodile bit me again and pulled me into the water,” Zanele, 25, said. “My husband was thrown out on the opposite side so the boat was between us.”
Eventually, he was able to get over to her and began punching the alligator as it tried to pull Zanele deeper into the water.
“Jamie swam over to where I was struggling with the crocodile that was trying to pull me to the bottom of the river,” she explained. “He grabbed my waist and with the other hand he rained blows on the crocodile.”
Soon tour guides came to help fight off the large animal until it finally released her, but it had taken her arm.
“I was shouting, trying to save her,” Jamie said. “She was not complaining of pain when we managed to pull her out of the water, maybe because of the shock. We were hoping the doctors would save her arm but that was not to be.”
But the bride and groom were simply thankful to be alive, and they weren’t about to let the terrifying ordeal stop them from getting married as planned.
Although the venue was moved to the chapel at the hospital where Zanele was recovering, the now-newlyweds couldn’t be happier.
“I spent a lot of time preparing for my wedding day, running around for a venue, decor and so forth,” Zanele said. “I didn’t know fate would have me wed in a hospital chapel, with one limb missing. But in all this, I’m not complaining. My wedding was the best, and I have a wonderful husband.”
“I love her even more and this incident actually made me feel the deep meaning in our vows,” Jamie said. “For better or worse, in sickness and in health, that’s just how our love is going to be.”
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