‘I played dead and lived’

Elder survives terrifying elephant attack

An old man narrowly survived an elephant attack, playing dead for almost two hours while the angry jumbo hovered menacingly over him.

60-year-old Tonota native, Onneetse Medupi is extremely lucky to be alive after being slammed into a tree several times by an elephant, which proceeded to strike him with its trunk and stamp on his back.

In an exclusive interview with The Voice this week, Medupi revealed the near death experience played out in the bush around Lekgothong cattlepost on Friday 16 July.

His muscly torso bearing the scars of his run-in with the giant mammal, the elder explained he had just finished kraaling his cattle and was preparing to return home when he spotted two huge elephants ambling lazily through the bush.

Startled but still relatively calm, as it was not his first time to come across elephants in the wilderness, Medupi tried to scare them off.

“It was around 1800 hours when I met the two elephants, I screamed so they go away and I proceeded with my journey. I thought I had walked past them, when out of nowhere another one came charging at me. I hastily dived for cover behind the back of a tree,” revealed Medupi, his voice shaking slightly at the month-old memory.

As he lay on the floor cowering in fear, the elephant tried to crush him, squeezing him against the tree like a football with its enormous foot.

“It did this three times. The pain was terrible and I just acted dead. It scratched my right hand and finger with its trunk and left thinking I was finished.”

For the next two hours, Medupi remained motionless on the ground playing dead.

“I did not wake up knowing that it might be standing somewhere watching if I will wake up!”

He was right to be cautious.

“After approximately two hours, I rose carefully. But it immediately came charging back and I quickly lay by the tree again. It came to me hastily, tore my trousers with its trunk and brutally pressed me by the tree as I kept as quiet as possible. That elephant is very cruel as it scratched my thigh and removed some flesh on my back by its foot. I acted dead all this time it did things to me and it assumed I died and left again,” continued Medupi, his deep, strong voice in keeping with his tough exterior.

This time Medupi stayed lying where he was, keeping as still as possible, until the middle of the night.

He only got up when he was 100 percent sure the elephant had gone, making his way gingerly to the nearest cattlepost, about an hour’s walk away, to seek help.

“They immediately took me to the clinic in Tonota, where I was given pills and an injection.”

The next day, Medupi dragged his bruised body to the clinic again, where it was discovered he had suffered internal bleeding to his chest and kidneys.

Fortunately his wounds are healing well and the unemployed elder is back on his feet, fit and healthy.

Concluding the interview with a word of advice to anyone who has the misfortune of encountering a jumbo in the wild, Medupi said, “You should not run when you see elephants. Rather lay down and act as if you do not feel anything, they will eventually leave you alone.”

Medupi’s ordeal occurred just a week after a Semotswane man was killed by an elephant as he returned from a fishing trip at Dikgathong Dam.

“The Wildlife department is still investigating to link if it is the same elephant. I urge people to walk with caution knowing there are dangerous elephants out there,” advised Tonota Station Commander, Oteng Ngada.