Woman Gets 'Thrown Like A Rag Doll' By Pet Hippo Inside World-Famous Animal Farm

A 39-year-old woman ended up in hospital after a hippo "threw her around like a ragdoll" inside an animal farm. Her cousin, a 62-year-old woman, was also severely injured in the attack.

The incident happened at a hippo farm in Limpopo, South Africa. The farm, owned by the couple Tony and Shirley Joubert, lets people visit and feed the animals, reported IOL.

Natasha Vrany and her cousin Belinda Newman visited the farm on Nov. 12. The duo decided to stay at the world-famous farm, known as Jessica's Place, as Newman was friends with the owners. The farm has two hippos, Jessica and Ritchie.

Vrany said the attack happened the following day while they were sitting on the lawn. They were with Tony and "felt quite safe and confident."

"All of a sudden, Richie came dashing out of the river. My back was facing the river, but I heard the stamping on the ground. As I got on my feet, Richie pushed me down to the ground and proceeded to bite both my legs and throw me around like a rag doll. He had both legs in his mouth, biting harder with every second," Vrany told the outlet.

Though Vrany tried to stick her nails into the animal's eye, it only made the beast more aggressive, biting her harder.

"Richie started carrying me down toward the river as I screamed to Tony to please not let him take me to the water. Tony was slapping Richie and saying him don't," added Vrany.

At this point, Vrany's cousin jumped on Richie's back to get the animal to release her. "He opened his mouth softly, and I was able to fall out of his mouth. He then turned on Belinda, pushing her to the ground, and started ripping her stomach to pieces," said Vrany.

The woman said she then ran inside the house to get a rifle but passed out before she could do so. "When I woke up, Belinda was standing over me holding her intestines in her hand to try and get them to stay inside," she added.

She alleged that Tony agreed to hand over the phone to call the paramedics only if she said the incident happened outside his property and the hippo that attacked her was a wild one.

They immediately called the paramedics. "While the paramedics were attending to us, Tony actually brought Jessica the hippo through the house to put her to bed on the veranda. I was so shocked, and so were the paramedics," Vrany revealed.

Tony claimed that the attack occurred outside his premises. He claimed the woman was attacked by a wild hippo and he risked his life to save her.

"I managed to hit him above the eye, where there is soft bone, and he dropped her. I saved her life while putting my own life at risk," Tony was quoted by the news outlet. He added that the animal disappeared back into the water.