Maria Leticia Gomes

Florida woman Kristen Yaldor was seriously injured when a hippo attacked and dragged her underwater during a canoe trip on Zimbabwe’s Zambezi River in 2018. She escaped by grabbing the animal’s jaw, then underwent treatment in Johannesburg for a broken femur and extensive tissue loss, requiring more than 20 surgeries. Despite lasting mobility problems, she reports little pain or post-traumatic stress and has focused on recovery and gratitude, including completing a charity 5K with her husband.

Marvin Hajos, a 75-year-old Florida man who kept cassowaries and worked to preserve the species, died in 2019 after a female bird attacked him while he was retrieving an egg. Officials described the incident as a tragic accident. The flightless birds can weigh more than 100 pounds, run up to 30 mph and have powerful claws, but Hajos was reportedly only the second person in recorded history to be killed by a cassowary. His family later decided not to continue keeping the birds at the property.

French Olympic middle-distance runner Jacques “Jacky” Boxberger was killed by an elephant during a 2001 family safari in Kenya’s Tsavo East National Park. Boxberger had approached the animal while filming it, prompting a charge that threw and trampled him in front of his wife, Sylvie Claude, and their 13-year-old daughter, Ophélie. Ophélie later became an accomplished international middle-distance runner for France.

In 2019, cyclist Colin Dowler encountered an aggressive grizzly bear on a logging path near Mount Doogie in British Columbia. After the bear attacked and inflicted about 60 puncture wounds, including a severe injury exposing his kidney, Dowler used a pocket knife to drive it away and cycled for 45 minutes to reach help. He underwent six and a half hours of surgery and spent 40 days in hospital, but later returned to cycling and hiking in bear country.

Ibi Roncaioli won millions in a Canadian lottery and secretly gave substantial sums to her children, including a previously unknown son. Her husband, gynaecologist Joseph Roncaioli, became angry over the spending and later injected her with painkillers. He failed to seek medical or police help, and prosecutors argued that jealousy and financial concerns motivated him. Although the defence cited her alcohol and drug use, an autopsy found needle marks and alcohol in her blood. Joseph was convicted of manslaughter in 2008, with the judge saying the intentional killing resembled murder more than an accidental death.

Sydney teenager Sam Ballard developed severe rat lungworm disease after eating a garden slug during a drunken dare in 2010. The parasitic infection caused inflammation of his brain and spinal cord, a 420-day coma, paralysis, seizures and lifelong dependence on care. After three years in hospital, Ballard returned home but died in November 2018 at age 27. His mother said she did not blame his friends, who continued visiting and supporting him, while friend Jimmy Galvin warned others about the potentially devastating consequences of reckless dares.

A 50-year-old mother of four named Farida disappeared while traveling through a forest in West Sulawesi, Indonesia, to sell food at a market. Villagers and authorities later found a 20-foot reticulated python with a distended stomach and cut it open, discovering her fully clothed body inside. Her husband, Noni, expressed remorse and grief, while village leader Suardi Rosi said such attacks were considered extremely rare locally. The report notes similar fatal python incidents involving Jahrah in 2022 and Wa Tiba in 2018.

A 39-year-old man in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Catalonia, died after climbing headfirst into the hollow leg of a papier-mâché stegosaurus statue to retrieve a dropped mobile phone. He became trapped and was likely stuck for several days before his body was discovered. Three fire brigade teams cut open the statue to recover him, and police determined that the death was accidental with no evidence of violence. The city council later confirmed the statue's removal.

Tommie Woodward, 28, was killed by a large alligator after entering Adams Bayou near a Texas marina at about 2 a.m. in 2015 despite warnings not to swim. His partner, Victoria LeBlanc, called emergency services, but Woodward was pulled underwater and later recovered with part of his arm missing. Local resident Kent Robnett subsequently shot the alligator, whose stomach contents contained human remains matching Woodward. The marina later closed, while Woodward's family criticized the cruel reaction and media portrayal that followed his death.

Isabel von Jordan, a 23-year-old German graduate, was killed by a 4.2-metre saltwater crocodile while swimming during a guided tour of Kakadu National Park in Australia in 2002. Tour operator Glenn Robless had told the group that the water was safe despite warning signs and the known presence of crocodiles. Isabel drowned after being dragged underwater, and her body was recovered the following day. Robless pleaded guilty after the charge was reduced to causing death by dangerous omission and received a three-year suspended sentence. A coroner later described his decision as grossly negligent and indefensible.

In 2000, seasonal Yellowstone National Park workers Sara Hulpers, Lance Buchi and Tyler Montague accidentally fell into the extremely hot waters of Cavern Springs while taking an unofficial route through the Lower Geyser Basin. Hulpers suffered catastrophic third-degree burns and died the following day in a Salt Lake City burn unit, while Buchi and Montague survived burns covering most of their bodies after months of surgery and skin grafts. Investigators found no evidence that alcohol was a leading factor, and the incident prompted renewed attention to the dangers of entering restricted geothermal areas.