How a croc changed his life

day.
A young man draws the frolicking herd of cattle into the kraal on the periphery of the homestead. Young boys pull the goats home from where they have been tethered the whole day.
The father – the head of the home – watches with authority and monitors the activities. Like ants, women on the other hand move to and from in preparation for meals which will satisfy everyone especially after such a long day under the scorching sun farming.
A long bath in Matetsi River is perfect to wash away all the sweat of the day and cooling off the high temperatures.
Oblivious of the creatures found in the river, Mr Amos Mukanda (81) never thought that his short bath in Matetsi River would change his life forever. After all, he had been bathing there ever since he was a boy.
He remembers vividly the flowing cool water that passed through his fingers as he washed his face. Unbeknown to him, it was his last time to feel such soothing coolness on his fingers. It was the last that he would see his hands.
As he splashed his face with the cold water one more time, all hell broke loose, when a crocodile attacked him with sudden sluggishness.
He fought the reptile with fear and agony. With one arm locked between the jaws, the reptile pulled him into shallow water. It spun in the process, breaking the arm.
The water was not very deep, though, giving him time and space to fight back. The ferocious reptile could not stop, it let loose the first hand and in the heat of the moment, caught up the next hand, spinning of and breaking it in the process.
He groaned and screamed. Fought. Fought and screamed. Screamed. Fought and screamed! Screamed and screamed for help until one brave man came to his rescue.
His body was bruised all over as oozing blood discoloured the water red. By the time he was helped, the reptile had ripped off his arm and broken the other.
“My life suddenly changed in this river. It changed over minutes. Before the crocodile attacked me I was a useful somebody. I took care of my life as the man of the house, ploughed and did all a man can do for his family.
“I stayed at the Hwange Colliery Hospital for six months and during that time my whole life paused forever,” said Mukanda as he explains the gruesome attack.
Mr Mukanda who has lost both hands from the attack is surviving with the help of his wife who is now doing all the work he is supposed to be doing.
“My wife does everything for me, I wish I could get some artificial hands which will help me do some of the things for myself,” he said.
After the attack, he has had a lot of internal injuries as the upper part of the body is
usually numb and he has a very poor eye sight.
It has been nine years now and Mukanda’s life is still on pause. He is fed, bathed and nursed by his wife.
He is one of the luckiest men to have survived from the Matetsi crocodile attacks as the infested river has claimed a number of lives.
Yearly many villagers surrounding the river are attacked and die.
Mr Steven Tshuma said for many villagers, it is inevitable to use the dangerous Matetsi River. It is the source of life in the drought prone area.
“We use water from the crocodile-infested river for drinking, washing as well as bathing. The boreholes are old and constantly breaking down yet the river is never without water,” he said.
Mr Tshuma said there has been an increase in the crocodile in the river because of some crocodile farmers up stream set free the reptiles after being hit by economic hardships and forced to close their businesses.
The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources committee in the area has done little, if anything, to help villagers who have been attacked by the crocodiles.
Those who survived from the attack
are mostly left with some physical disabilities and health instability. Their income is affected.
Matetsi River is one of the rivers in Hwange which pours into the Zambezi River. Its plethora of tributaries is used by farmers breeding crocodiles.