Learn the story of the man who was swallowed by a hippo and survived

Everyone has a good story to tell, an amazing experience, a trip, a moment of danger, joy, euphoria, luck. But if you happen to find a man named Paul Templer, be prepared to have your jaw dropped - but not too sagging, because Templer has a certain open-mouth trauma.

Working as a tour guide in South Africa, Templer used to take some tourists to see the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls. He was training other guides in a kayak when they were caught by an angry hippo. One of the guides was attacked and Templer directed everyone out of the water to find a safe place; meanwhile he went to help the distressed guide.

In a report published in The Guardian, the guide says that while fighting the hippo, he was eventually swallowed in what he described as an act of blindness and deafness, as he could not recognize any evidence that he would be attacked.

Bad dream

He had his upper half trapped inside the mouth of the huge animal, and during that time he was forced to struggle to get out of that unpleasant environment, described by him as sticky and as stinky as rotten eggs. At one point, the animal practically spat out Templer's body, which was rescued from the water with several injuries.

Luckily, one of the guides present had a good sense of first aid and was able to help Templer stay alive until they reached a hospital. The guide's left arm was completely chewed by the animal and its body had huge wounds - its lung was visible thanks to the hippo's bite.

Unfortunately, the man Templer tried to rescue could not resist and his body was found in the river two days after the incident.