Trapped Inside a Hippo’s Throat: The Unbelievable Escape That Defies Logic

Ever wonder what it feels like to get swallowed not once, but three times by a 15-foot hippo—and still walk away alive? Yeah, me neither, until I stumbled upon Paul Templer’s jaw-dropping story. Back in ’96, this tour guide was leisurely cruising the Zambezi River with some tourists when things took a wild turn—a rogue hippo flipped a kayak and decided Paul was the main course. Picture this: one minute you’re out there helping a buddy, the next you’re halfway inside a beast weighing more than your car. Talk about a close call with nature’s most brutal bouncer! Despite being mauled, tossed, and nearly drowned, Paul managed to survive against all odds—though not without a harrowing cost. Strap in, ’cause this is not your average river tale. LEARN MORE.

A man who was savagely attacked and swallowed three times by a hippo revealed how he was able to escape with his life.

In 1996, Paul Templer had been working as a tour guide and headed out on an excursion along the Zambezi River with a group of tourists when they were set upon by a rogue hippo.

The 15ft creature capsized a kayak carrying Templer’s apprentice guide, Evans Namasango, prompting him to intervene and help his colleague.

Unfortunately, this is when the animal set its sights on attacking him instead.

“Suddenly, everything went dark and quiet and it took a few seconds for me to realise what had happened,” Templer explained in a previous interview with LADbible.

“From the waist up I felt like I wasn’t really wet, but I wasn’t really dry,” he continued.

The tour guide suffered extensive injuries from the attack (Getty Stock Images)

“I could feel a sort of pressure on my lower back and with one of my arms I could feel around, and I felt bristles.”

Templer was now headfirst inside a hippo, with the creature initially expelling him as he was too big to swallow.

However, his ordeal didn’t end there.

As he went to assist Namasango, Templer was attacked again by the hippo and was now inside the creature from his waist down.

The hippo would attack for a third time, this time with the creature clamping down on his torso.

“I see the monster charging in towards me with his mouth wide open and he scores a direct hit,” Templer explained in a episode of What It Was Like podcast.

He continued: “His tusks go through my torso and through my side. My knees down are outside one side of his mouth, and my head and shoulders and arms are outside the other.”

At this point, Templer was left wondering if he’d die from blood loss or drowning first.

Paul continues to kayak despite his injuries (Paul Templer)

Against all odds, Templer would survive the ordeal after one of his fellow guides was able to help release him from the hippos jaws. However, he was left with severe injuries, including his left arm being completely ‘de-gloved’ from the attack.

The situation appeared dire, however, Templer would become extremely lucky after a medical air rescue team, which included a military shock trauma specialist surgeon, happened to be on a training exercise nearby.

An artery in his left arm had also miraculously sealed himself, preventing excessive blood loss.

Despite fears that he would lose both arms and one of his legs, doctors were able to save his right arm and injured leg – meaning he only lost one of his limbs.

Unfortunately, tragedy would still strike the group, as apprentice guide Namasango would ultimately drown during the ordeal.