The Herald

Mom rescues son from croc’s jaws

Herald Reporter

A daring 30-year-old Chiredzi woman recently rescued her three-year-old son from the jaws of a crocodile in Runde River.

Narrating her story to ZBC News last night, Ms Maurina Musisinyana of Chihosi Village said on the fateful day, she was fishing along the river near Gonarezhou National Park, while her son Gideon was playing with his brother on the riverbank.

She was alerted of the attack by screams from her sister-in-law whom she was fishing with.

“We only realised this when the crocodile was already dragging the baby into the river,” she said.

“I immediately rushed to the scene. My son had been shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella, so upon arrival at the scene, I noticed the umbrella floating in the river and went straight there to locate him and the crocodile.

“Upon finding the crocodile, I pressed its nose hard — a tip I learnt from the elders long back that if you suffocate a crocodile from its nose, it loses its strength and that is exactly what I did.

“The crocodile lost its strength and I used my other arm to free my baby’s head from its jaws. It then let him loose, but the crocodile bit my hand in the process.” Ms Musisinyana said she rushed back home to seek assistance, but was unsure whether the child would survive or not. “Even to this day, I still do not believe that I rescued my son and I do not understand how I did it,” she said.

The baby was eventually taken to hospital, where doctors described his condition as stable.

According to health officials at the hospital, the boy sustained injuries to his face and was bleeding profusely, making it difficult for him to breath.

A number of people have been killed while fishing or trying to cross the crocodile-infested Runde River in Chiredzi.