Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Our wedding vow to love each other in sickness and in health means so much more...
wayo. They hired a club called Busters for the reception and Ndlovu found the perfect bridal gown.
They decided to do the honeymoon beforehand – a four-day break at Victoria Falls, where they had spent their first New Year’s Eve together in 2016. Fox suggested bungee jumping but she refused, telling him: “I’m not crazy!” Instead, on April 30 they opted for canoeing. “Later that day we were due on a sunset cruise,” she said. “We were having a great time...”
They got into an inflatable canoe. Ndlovu said: “The guides mentioned there might be crocodiles but it’s rare to see them.” They had been paddling 20 minutes when Ndlovu noticed something. “I saw this crocodile pop its head up next to me. It was so quiet and its mouth was closed and it was this huge head.” She gestures the width of the table.
“It took three or four seconds for me to realise it was real. Then it jumped on me, grabbed my arm and the canoe, which deflated. I could hear Jamie screaming but I couldn’t see him, so I thought he’d been attacked by another crocodile.
“The crocodile kept pulling me down and biting me. I felt it bite my right arm three times. The water was bloody. I was thinking, ‘This can’t be happening, I’m going to die’.”
Fox said: “It was just panic and fear, I was shouting so much.”
Ndlovu was being tossed and turned. “It would flip me one way then the other. I don’t know how I got away but the guides pulled me into another canoe.” They took her to the riverbank and used towels to stem the blood.
“I remember them trying to keep me calm and hide my arm but I’d caught a glimpse and saw my hand hanging on by a bit of skin,” she said.
Fox was astonished at her calmness. “I was in panic and crying but she didn’t complain and was smiling.”
“I just felt numb, not really pain, like cramp and cold,” explained Ndlovu. “Jamie kept telling me, ‘Don’t close your eyes’. I think he thought I’d die if I shut my eyes. I said, ‘Babe, I’m OK’. I was more concerned about him.”
A rescue helicopter came within 10 minutes. At Victoria Falls Hospital doctors stitched back her left thumb and examined what remained of her right arm. They recommended she be sent to a specialist in Bulawayo.
After a five-hour journey they arrived at Mater Dei Hospital, where her mum and sister were waiting. The surgeon looked at her arm then said the best thing would be amputation. “When he said that, it went silent,” said Fox.
At around 11pm she was taken into theatre. The one blessing was she is left-handed. “Thank God it was my right hand,” she said.
Two days later, doctors agreed the wedding could go ahead on the Saturday – in the hospital chapel, so she had medical care. Her sister and friends dressed her and 60 guests attended. “It wasn’t how we expected but it was the best day of my life,” said Fox. “It was mine too,” said Ndlovu. “The vow to love each other ‘in sickness and in health’ took on a new poignancy.”
Their guests went to Busters for a reception and they returned to her hospital room. “Being alone there was more intimate than a normal wedding when you’re having to entertain everyone,” said Fox.
Ndlovu left hospital a few days ago and they are in a rented apartment as she recuperates, taking painkillers and antibiotics. “It’s not as painful as you’d imagine,” she said. “The most painful thing is my ribs. The biggest challenge is ‘phantom limb’, when you feel the arm is still there.”
Fox added: “I’m amazed at the way she has dealt with this. Emotionally, she has supported me more than vice versa.” Ndlovu said: “I worry about him. It was me it happened to but he was watching, which may be more traumatic. And I feel lucky to be alive.”
They did not ask for the crocodile to be hunted but on the eve of their wedding, the guides found it and shot it dead.
Fox was supposed to return to Britain and resume work this week. Now, he will stay longer and as soon as it is safe to travel, his wife will accompany him for treatment in the UK – and explore the possibility of having a prosthetic arm.
“A lot of things will have to change,” said Ndlovu. “Hopefully, with time, I will become more independent.”
She even hopes to still play tennis.