Former Zimbabwean cricketer, Guy Whittall, has narrowly escaped death again after being attacked by a leopard, years after he woke to find an eight-foot-long crocodile hiding under his bed.
According to the Daily Mail, Whittall (51), needed emergency surgery after being badly mauled by the big cat. His trusted dog Chikara, was also bitten as he tried to save him.
Guy was attacked while trekking through the conservancy he runs with his father at the junction of the Tugwi and Save rivers in the southeast of the country.
It was at the conservancy where he woke one morning to find a sleeping crocodile under his bed.
Guy’s wife, Hannah Stooks-Whittall, posted images of the latest attack on social media, showing Guy being treated in the bush by medics with bandages on his head. He was later airlifted to Milton Park Hospital in the capital Harare.
She added that Guy had “lost a lot of blood” but was saved by “faithful K9 Chikara” who “was mauled by the leopard getting the cat of Guy”.
A later picture showed Guy in the hospital giving a thumbs up with his head and hands still bandaged.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Hannah said Guy was lucky to be alive following the encounter with the leopard. She said:
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 going to get some extra chicken as a treat. He’s got to see the vet as he has a few scratches and 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.
In 2023, Guy woke up to find a huge crocodile sleeping under his bed, while he was still in it.
The eight-foot reptile had sneaked into his lodge and spent the entire night lying quietly, just fractions beneath an oblivious Guy.
It had managed to stay hidden for more than eight hours overnight, and the following morning, Guy had even perched on the edge of his bed, with his feet dangling over the edge, just inches from the crocodile’s face.
Guy was unaware of the crocodile’s presence and it was only as he was enjoying some breakfast in the kitchen that he heard the petrified screams of a housemaid who had spotted the reptile.
He had to call in some of his co-workers who helped remove the crocodile from its new lair and release him back into a nearby dam.
As a cricketer, Guy is best remembered for his unbeaten 1997 double-century of 203 not out against New Zealand.
