-appeals for medical fees
EDWIN MOYO
GOKWE- A 37-year-old Gokwe woman who bravely fought a marauding crocodile to save her 13 year old boy is appealing for money to pay for her medical bills after she got injured during the rescue.
The incident which left the usually quite community of Nembudziya frightened happened in November last year along the mighty Munyati River.
The victim, Linia Mazhambe, who is currently admitted at Gweru Provincial Hospital, survived the horrific incident fighting for his son’s life.
The boy was attacked by the giant reptile while watering the family garden.
Narrating her ordeal to The Midweek Watch during a Hospital visit last week, Mazhambe said it was through God’s grace that she managed to pull her son from the jaws of the marauding crocodile.
Mazhambe, a horticultural farmer is bemoaning her loss of income as she was earning a living through farming and selling her produce.
“So it happened that we went to the garden to water the garden on the fateful day, as we were watering the garden, my 13-year-old son was caught by the crocodile in a surprise attack. The reptile bit his chest side and tried to drag him into the water, that’s when I quickly ran to his rescue.
“I then looked for a big log and began to wrestle it until it let him go. So, as I was coming out of the water, the crocodile attacked me on my left arm. It then dragged me into the water, I shouted to my son saying give me another log. Upon receiving the log, I started poking it again in the eyes and that is when it let me go and it disappeared.
“As I was fighting the crocodile, I managed to scream for help so people came to my rescue and searched for the crocodile but they didn’t find it. All this time I was already unconscious,” she said.
Mazhambe is appealing for financial help to pay for the medical bills and for the welfare of her family.
An environmentalist with Save Our Environment Trust (SOET), Vimbai Chigara highlighted the importance of educating people about human and wildlife conflict in the face of rising crocodile attacks to avoid more incidents.
“We need to educate the community about the changes in the climatic patterns, these changes are fueling such incidents, remember these reptiles are also migrating from one place to another in search of food.
“There is need for the community to be aware of these changes as this helps community to understand how wildlife migrate in seasonal times. People also need to know that it is not a crime to kill an animal in self-defense.” Chigara said.
Meanwhile, the Midlands Women Farmers Union president, Alice Masuka said she was grateful to the Gweru Provincial Hospital and the media for quickly responding to Linia’s plight.
“We are grateful to the media who managed to pick Linia’s story and we are mobilizing financial assistance so that my daughter here gets help. We want her back in good health so that she can fend for her family. She is a farmer like us, we stand with her.
“We also appeal to the Parks and Wildlife Management to quickly respond to incidents of human-wildlife conflicts in case someone is attacked by wildlife, we call for urgent help so that these predators are contained for the safety of the community,” Masuka said.
