Philip Coates-Palgrave is one of those believe in second chances. The South African archer faces his first Paralympic Games with 50 years and, in addition, does it after surviving the attack of a hippopotamus. Reality often surpasses fiction. It was 1995. At that time, Philip was working as a canoe guide in Zimbabwe. One day fate made a hippopotamus, coming out for air in the Zambezi River, crossed his path and crashed into his boat.
The frightened animal attacked him, grabbing him directly by his left leg, while he tried to protect the tourists who accompanied him. Despite the situation, he remained calm. Something miraculous, since the hippo was dragging him to the depths and mutilating him for three endless minutes. “It’s like being in a huge washing machine. You have to trust that you will surface at some point. I had a flashback. I remembered a time before, when I was swept away by the rapids at Victoria Falls. It was a power of nature that you cannot fight. I kicked it twice and decided to hold my breath to help me relax my muscles. He thought he was dead and let me go, “he said in statements collected by the website of Tokyo2020.
However, his torturous experience was not over. It took him 25 hours to get to the hospital and the operations dragged on for months. They did not prevent Philip from saving his left leg. Already in 2016 he came across archery and contacted Shaun Anderson, who agreed to train him and now competes alongside him. His dream was to go to the Paralympic Games and he succeeded, despite the fact that sport had not been present in his life before the accident. “I was just lazy and useless. Now I feel like I’m not shooting at my opponent but at myself,” he explained.
Now, temper your nerves like in that attack. The premiere is approaching – Friday, 2:00 pm – and that feeling is inevitable. “It’s a mixture of emotions for the magnitude of this event and how lucky we are to be here. At the same time there is fear because there is stiff competition. Hence, I constantly work on emotions“He knows that he has a great opportunity before him. The one of the Games. The one of his life.
