After almost a week of being in and out of consciousness following an attack by a giraffe on Valentine’s Day, Yvonne Dednam, the wife of Barberton Hi-Tech’s Sakkie, began talking to her husband on Tuesday February 20.
The couple, who are well known and loved in town, both went on an afternoon stroll with their dogs on the estate property where they live, Greenstone Wildlife Estate, when they were suddenly attacked by a giraffe.
Speaking to Lowvelder from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon, February 20, Sakkie spoke of the little he could remember of the attack and how Yvonne’s recovery had made a turning point that day. He said Yvonne had suffered two broken spinal disks and a double concussion during the attack, and that Tuesday was the first time since the incident she was properly awake and talking.
READ MORE HERE: Barberton couple attacked by a giraffe on Valentine’s Day
He said he and his wife would go for a walk with their dogs on the estate every afternoon, usually at about 16:00. On the day of the attack, they had left a little later.
“I remember it was exactly 16:35. We walked up, out of our yard, and saw the giraffe standing 200m away in the middle of the road,” said Sakkie.
He said they walked on their path near the giraffe, and as they got to about five steps away from it, the giraffe moved some 15m off the road into the bush to the couple’s left.
“We have never had issues with the giraffes before. I didn’t think anything of it.”
He said as they passed it by, he looked up and into its eye. As the giraffe and Sakkie made eye contact, he suspected then that something might be wrong.
“I had just said to my wife to pasop when it charged us. Giraffe can run almost 60km/h, so within a second it was on me. I remember its big hooves. They were swirling and twirling around. I remember its breastbone being against my head. The giraffe made one hell of a noise. I have never heard one make that sound before, and I have been living around them for 11 years now. It sounded almost like the roar of a lion. I remember its hind hooves and then I remember nothing else.”
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Sakkie said he thinks he took a kick to the head.
He said his dogs managed to escape and run away. He said although he does not remember much after this, he knows he sent two messages, one to Hi-Tech control and another to the estate management’s WhatsApp group at 16:55, asking for help.
“I don’t remember sending those messages. The time between when we left for the walk and the timestamp on those messages show we were being attacked for about 20 minutes.”
He said someone drove down the road and saw the giraffe, and then Yvonne. The man parked his bakkie near her to try to prevent the attack from continuing. Sakkie was found on the ground a little way away. They were both rushed to Kiaat Private Hospital.
Sakkie said he doesn’t have any broken bones, but he has lacerations on his left arm, leg and back from being dragged. He said they are both full of bruises. Yvonne does not have any lacerations on her.
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He said he had managed to walk three flights of stairs on Tuesday and that, coupled with the fact that his wife had started talking that day, was a big, positive turning point in both their recoveries.
Gerhard Bessenger, the vice chairperson of the estate’s council, said he had visited with Sakkie and Yvonne on Tuesday afternoon and after much discussion, he said it is possible that the giraffe that attacked the couple might be a female who had recently given birth. He said the estate had approached experts regarding the giraffe attack, and they told him that the estate should look for a baby, as this could have been the reason for the attack.
The calf was spotted on the estate on Saturday. Bessenger said that bearing the above in mind, the estate will not be euthanising the giraffe that attacked the couple.
Sakkie said he had thought at first it was a young bull that had attacked them, but now he too thinks it was a mother with a young calf.
Bessenger added that the estate is planning to educate the owners and tenants on living on the estate with wild animals, and that it would continue with its usual programme of wildlife management.
