Just to let AH know that last tuesday Leon DuPlessis of Save Safaris was injured by a cape buffalo.
I waited to make this public until the family has posted on Whatsapp about it.
The exact words from Stephanie, his daughter, are as follows:
Tuesday late afternoon he was following a wounded buffalo into thick brush which charged. The first shot did not put it down and it kept coming, catching Leon in the side lifting him in the air then dropping him. He was trapped underneath the buff holding onto its horns.
At this point his tracker Stanford pulled the client into position to shoot the buffalo. The client shot and the buffalo fell on top of Dup but was still very much alive and trying to gore him. Hisa two trackers Stanford and Mazonde bravely pulled the buffalo off him, putting themselves in danger as it was trying to gore them as well and dragged Dup to safety as the client finished it off.
Stanford then radioed Adriaan who rushed to the scene and stabilized Leon. He then radioed Dave Goosen from Sango for assistance. Thankfully the capture team was on Sango and immediately rushed to help in the helicopter. They arrived at the scene and flew him close to the main tar road. Due to the time of day air evacuation to a hospital was not an option. Once Leon was stabilized and had a drip line with the help of Jacquie, Josh, NJ Laurenz and the Sango team, he was driven to meet the ambulance on the road.
We met the ambulance just outside Nyanyadzi where they took over Leon's care and Laurenz stayed in the ambulance with him. Thank you to Ace Ambulance for a very professional and efficient service. We arrived at Murambi garden hospital about 8:30 and he was immediately taken to have x-rays done then taken into Theatre. Four hours of surgery removing dirt and debris, checking organs, and repairing the damage. After a few hundred stitches he was taken to HDU to recover.
Due to the severity of the wounds he was given blood in surgery and this continued after. He was given more whole blood and then started on FFP (plasma) to help with clotting. Unfortunately he had a bad allergic reaction to the plasma and went into anaphylactic shock, this was brought under control but was a set back. The wounds have been draining a lot since then as they should and he has had a few short walks which is really amazing. The main concern right now is infection. The doctors have taken swabs to test and are monitoring for it and he is on antibiotics.
Many thanks to everyone who has been involved in getting Dup this far and thank you to everyone for their continued messages and support we are truly grateful. It is going to be a long road to recovery but we are blessed to have you all. We thank God for watching over him.
(Stephanie)
The family has asked we not contact Leon directly as he is too tired to look over all the messages coming in.
I know many of you know him or at least know of him as he has been in the Save since its inception.
Please keep the family - (wife Judy, Son Riann, daughter Stephanie and daughter Gabby) as well as the support family of trackers and staff of Save Safaris. Mike Payne and Adriaan also P.H. at Save
I have personally hunted with Leon on 4 different occasions and have come to know him quite well. The family has not asked for direct help yet but I know Chris Sells with Heym has contacted the DSC Frontline foundation to assist.
This is not a request for donations but I know many will want to help. Channel anything through the DSC Frontline and ask for it to go to Leon.
Our community does a great job of looking after our own, and thank you for prayers and support.
