Couple goes ahead with wedding despite crocodile attack

A scary crocodile attack on a lady, Zanele Ndlovu, has had no negative effect whatsoever on her plans to marry husband, Jamie, a native of Kent, London.

The pair got married on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, while Ndlovu was recuperating at a hospital.

They had expressed in a BBC interview a life changing experience while travelling on a canoe in Zimbabwe's Zambezi River. The incident occurred on April 30, 2018, as captured by the BBC's Shingai Nyoka.

"We had no fears at all. They mentioned: 'You will see a couple of crocodiles', but they didn't warn us they could attack us," Ndlovu told of the assurances of safety they had received from their tour guide.

Jamie, who she had been dating for a period of 18 months prior to the crocodile attack described a calming scene which ushered the river-side turbulence.

"It is very relaxed water. It was a really relaxed time. We didn't see or hear it or anything.

"We both remember it a little differently," says Jamie.

"I saw its head. It took us a couple of seconds to realise it was actually a real crocodile," he added.

Tour guides save the day

While Zanele Ndlovu was experiencing the crocodile attack, a group of tour guides closed in on her position according to a BBC report, saving her from what could have led to her last breath.

By this time, she had received three bites on her arm and a little bite on her thumb.

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Her thoughts had prepared her for an imminent death but she found strength to put in one last fight.

"It bit me at least three times on this arm. Here it had a little bite, on my thumb," Ndlovu refers to a chopped portion of her arm.

"My first thought was: 'I am going to die.' The water was now bloody.

"But then, after a while, I thought: 'No, let me just fight.' I just kind of hung in there until the tour guides were able to save me and get me onto their canoe.

"I caught a glimpse of my hand, it was barely hanging on this a piece of skin. But they didn't know I knew that - they tried to hide my hand from me.

"Luckily I was freezing cold, which made the pain a bit less," she told the BBC.

A quick medical response helped victim survive attack

A 25-year-old Zanele Ndlovu, was airlifted down to a Bulawayo hospital, where she received medical attention.

At the location, they went on to have their wedding which had earlier been fixed for May 5, 2018.

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"We had always planned for our wedding to be on 5 May.

"Once the operation was done, after a day or two, the doctor said: 'We are seeing how well you are managing you injuries.'

"He said the hospital would be able to accommodate our wedding, if we had it on the hospital site, at their chapel," says Ndlovu whose experiences have given a reason to look forward to the bright side of life.