Former Zimbabwe cricketer Guy Whittall has undergone emergency surgery after he was mauled by a wounded leopard while on a hunting expedition earlier this week.
The 51-year-old, who represented Zimbabwe in 46 Tests and 147 ODIs between 1993 and 2003, sustained cuts to his arms and a gash to his head during the bloody attack near Buffalo Range.
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Whittall, who “lost a lot of blood” during the incident, was flown to Harare and transferred to Milton Park Hospital for treatment, with his wife Hannah Stooks Whittall providing an update on Facebook.
“Guy and I are overwhelmed by the hundreds of messages of well wishers after Guy’s run in with a wounded leopard earlier today,” she wrote.
“He is currently awaiting surgery tomorrow morning as he lost a lot of blood today. We will know more tomorrow when they remove bandages.”
Whittall’s dog Chikara, who helped wrestle off the leopard, was also taken to a vet following the ordeal.
Back in 2013, Whittall made headlines after discovering a 165kg crocodile under his bed, which crawled into his lodge and spent the night while he slept.
“The really disconcerting thing about the whole episode is the fact that I was sitting on the edge of the bed that morning, bare foot and just centimetres away from the croc,” Whittall said at the time.
“It came from the Turgwe River, which is a couple of kilometres from the house.
“They often wander about the bush, especially when it’s cold and raining. I think he liked it under the bed because it was warm.”
Whittall, who runs a safari business with his family in Humani, represented Zimbabwe at three World Cups, in 1996, 1999 and 2003.
He scored 4912 runs and claimed 139 wickets for his country.
“He really is one lucky man, first he had the crocodile and now the leopard, he really is the cat with nine lives,” his wife told the Daily Mail.
“He was so fortunate that Chikara was there to help him and get the leopard off him otherwise who knows how it might have ended.
“We are so grateful to him and Chikara is going to get some extra chicken as a treat.
“He’s got to see the vet as he has a few scratches but he should be OK, he’s in better shape than Guy.
“Fortunately, Guy is up in bed and talking, he’s telling anyone who will listen how he wrestled with a leopard but we all know it was down to Chikara.”
Originally published as Former Zimbabwe cricketer Guy Whittall hospitalised after leopard mauling
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