Natasha Vrany and her 62-year-old cousin, Belinda Newman, were visiting Jessica's Place in South Africa when the unthinkable allegedly occurred. The two were at the home for rescued hippos when they say they were attacked.
Natasha's account of the story makes the event sound just as bizarre as it must have been. The owners of Jessica's Place deny that their hippos were involved, so Natasha took her grievances to Tripadvisor and left the establishment a one-star review.
Natasha wrote, "Myself and my cousin were brutally attacked by Richie the hippo on the 14th November at Jessicas place. We were rushed to Zaneen hospital having several operations and infections setting in."
She continued by saying that the owners deny any wrongdoing: "No comment and lies from shirley Joubert and Tony Joubert owners of Jessica's Place. I urge anyone not to put yourself or your family at risk. This hippos are not tame and can attack at any time."
Natasha also spoke to Pretoria News about the incident, implicating the owners of the establishment. She said that she and her cousin weren't worried because everything felt safe: "Tonie had no weapon or rifle with him. We felt quite safe and confident that there would be no issues."
Then suddenly, a 9-year-old hippo named Richie allegedly came for the pair. "All of a sudden, Richie came dashing out of the river," Natasha said. "My back was facing the river, but I heard the stamping on the ground. As I got on my feet, Richie pushed me down to the ground and proceeded to bite both my legs and throw me around like a rag doll. He had both legs in his mouth, biting harder with every second."
While Natasha was allegedly being attacked, her older cousin stepped in to help. "He opened his mouth softly, and I was able to fall out of his mouth," Natasha explained. "He then turned on Belinda, pushing her to the ground, and started ripping her stomach to pieces."
Natasha ended up passing out: "When I woke up, Belinda was standing over me holding her intestines in her hand to try and get them to stay inside."
Natasha also claims that the owner said Belinda's injuries were "just a scratch" and even allowed the hippo in question to nap outside the home once authorities and EMTs arrived.
The owner of Jessica's Place claims that the attacking hippo was wild, and that he did everything he could to save the women's lives. "I managed to hit him above the eye, where there is soft bone, and he dropped her," he said. "I saved her life while putting my own life at risk."
