NATIONAL NEWS - A Durban woman who was attacked by an elephant had to undertake a seven-hour journey by car to the nearest hospital, while she was on holiday in Botswana recently.
Caryl Marshall (60), who was on foot with a group of friends at the time, said her scrape with death on the morning of 22 December, was nothing short of a miracle.
She was stabbed through the chest by one of the elephant’s tusks, has several bruises to her upper torso and suffered several fractured ribs in the incident.
Marshall, who is almost fully healed, is currently being treated by a doctor in Durban North and says she hopes people will view her story as one of hope.
“I hadn’t been on holiday in a very long time, and a group of friends suggested a trip to the bush. I was so excited because I’d never seen an animal in the wild. The morning of the attack, we were on foot and had walked up a little rocky hill, and when we got to the top of the hill, we spotted a herd of elephants in the distance.
I’m not sure what it was on the day, but I remember saying I was uncomfortable.
“When they spotted us, they began flapping their ears in unison, and the herd mock-charged us. Unbeknownst to me, the largest elephant in the herd, who could have been the matriarch, kept charging, and we all just fled and ran as fast we could away from her.
"I turned around to see how far away she was from us, and she had closed the distance incredibly quickly. In the process of turning around, I tripped and fell, and she was on me in the blink of an eye,” Marshall explains.
The elephant wrapped its trunk around Marshall’s body and picked her off the ground and slammed her down.
“The elephant then lowered its tusks and tried to pick me up again, and in that process, one of the tusks actually pierced the bottom of my breast, and it went all the way around to the front of my chest where it exited. She dropped me again, and by this time, I was underneath her. I could see her bending her front legs to trample me, and my only thought at this moment was I was going to die. I was just waiting for the final blow. Everything happened so quickly that the group I was with said I didn’t scream or resist because I was so badly injured,” she said.
Marshall credits her friends for saving her life as one of them struck the elephant with a rock.
“They bravely ran up to her and threw a rock at her, and the others in the group did the same. The elephant stopped immediately, took a few steps back, and then nonchalantly walked to join the rest of the herd,” she says.
What followed was a seven-hour car journey to get to the nearest hospital.
“We were in such a remote part of the bush that there was no cellphone signal. I had to be carried down a steep path by my friends in a tent ground cover. Because I was so terrified, I kept asking where the elephant was. The car journey was excruciating because throughout the seven hours, I could feel every bump in the road. I was still fearful about dying because I could see the damage to my chest area,” she says.
Once she arrived at hospital, a CT scan and ultrasound revealed that the entry and exit wound had missed all vital organs.
“I spent four days in hospital, and when they released me, it was really about dressing my wounds and caring for them. It still feels surreal telling the story to others because it sounds so impossible to believe. I have no ill feelings towards the elephant or elephants in general.
"We don’t know what caused her to attack like that, but she was just protecting her herd.
“It was such a privilege seeing wild animals in their natural habitat, and I see my survival as a story of hope and a miracle. I’ve been given a second chance, and I hope to make the absolute best of what I’ve got.
"I also hope others will hear this and appreciate and be grateful for all the things in their lives. Don’t take things for granted. While my ribs will take time to heal, I’m doing so much better, and I feel great,” Marshall says.
