A heroic 30-year-old Chiredzi woman last year rescued her three-year-old son from the jaws of a crocodile in Runde River.
Narrating her story, Ms Maurina Musisinyana of Chihosi
Village said on the fateful day, she was fishing along the river near
Gonarezhou National Park, while her son Gideon was playing with his brother on
the riverbank.
She was alerted of the attack by screams from her
sister-in-law whom she was fishing with. “We only realised this when the
crocodile was already dragging the baby into the river,” she said.
“I immediately rushed to the scene. My son had been
shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella, so upon arrival at the scene,
I noticed the umbrella floating in the river and went straight there to locate
him and the crocodile.
“Upon finding the crocodile, I pressed its nose hard — a
tip I learnt from the elders long back that if you suffocate a crocodile from
its nose, it loses its strength and that is exactly what I did.
“The crocodile lost its strength and I used my other arm to
free my baby’s head from its jaws. It then let him loose, but the crocodile bit
my hand in the process.”
Ms Musisinyana said she rushed back home to seek
assistance, but was unsure whether the child would survive or not.
“Even to this day, I still do not believe that I rescued my
son and I do not understand how I did it,” she said.
The baby was eventually taken to hospital where doctors
described his condition as stable. According to health officials at the
hospital, the boy sustained injuries to his face and was bleeding profusely,
making it difficult for him to breathe.
A number of people have been killed while fishing or trying
to cross the crocodile-infested Runde River in Chiredzi. Sunday Mail
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