Former Zimbabwe all rounder Guy Whittall recently survived a leopard attack thanks to help from his dog but needed emergency surgery after he was mauled by the big cat, a Daily Mail report said.
The 51-year-old was attacked while trekking through the conservancy that he runs in the Humani region of the country and was saved by his dog Chikara, who was bitten while trying to save him.
The former cricketer's wife Hannah Stooks-Whittall posted images on social media, of him getting treated by doctors with bandages wrapped around his head before he was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Harare, where he underwent the surgery.
"He really is one lucky man, first he had the crocodile and now the leopard, he really is the cat with nine lives. He was so fortunate that Chikara was there to help him and get the leopard off him otherwise who knows how it might have ended," Stooks-Whittall told Daily Mail.
She further revealed that their dog was rushed to a veterinary hospital and was in a better shape than her husband.
"We are so grateful to him, and Chikara going to get some extra chicken as a treat. He's got to see the vet as he has a few scratches and but he should be ok, he's in better shape than Guy."
"Fortunately, Guy is up in bed and talking, he's telling anyone who will listen how he wrestled with a leopard but we all know it was down to Chikara," she said.
Extraordinarily, this was not the first instance where Whittall found himself too close to an animal for his own comfort. In September 2013, he had come in the news after photos emerged of an eight-foot crocodile sleeping under his bed at home, lying there without his knowledge.
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