NEW DELHI: Former Zimbabwe cricketer Guy Whittall has managed to cheat death once again, this time he and his dog fought off a leopard, which left him bloodied and in need of emergency surgery.
In September 2013, Whittall had gone to sleep and woken up with an admirably well-behaved eight-foot-long crocodile sleeping under his bed at home. Reports then had suggested Whittall had slept the whole night with his legs dangling off the bed.
Reports from his native country of Zimbabwe this time said that the 51-year-old was attacked while he was trekking through the conservancy that he runs in the Humani region of the country. They added that he was lucky to be accompanied by his faithful dog Chikara, who was also bitten while trying to save Whittall.
Whittall’s wife offered more details about the encounter on her Facebook account a couple of days back.
“… Guy’s run in with a wounded leopard earlier today. We are very fortunate that he was stabilized at Hippo Clinic by wonderful staff. He was then airlifted from Buffalo Range by ace ambulance to Harare, then transferred to Milton Park Hospital for treatment. He is currently awaiting surgery tomorrow morning as he lost a lot of blood today,” she posted.
She also credited Chikara with saving Whittall’s life.
“Our faithful K9 Chikara, his handler and trackers. Chikara coming up tomorrow to the vet after being mauled by the leopard and getting the cat off Guy! Very special boy,” she wrote.
As a cricketer, Whittall was known for two moments: it was his century against Pakistan at Harare that had helped Zimbabwe register their first-ever Test victory back in 1995. In that Test though, his unbeaten innings of 113 was overshadowed by Grant Flower (unbeaten 201 run) and Andy Flower (156 runs) as Zimbabwe won by an innings and 64 runs.
Whittal also famously scored a Test double ton against New Zealand, thumping 203 runs at Bulawayo.
Agencies

KR Desk