Wife of Man Attacked by Hippo on Honeymoon Reveals How She Punched the Animal to Save Him
Anna and Sam McKeeCredit: Good Morning Britain/Youtube
Anna McKee has recalled how she punched a hippo attacking her husband in a bid to save his life after her fight-or-flight response kicked in
She and husband Sam were on their honeymoon safari in Botswana’s Okavango Delta in September 2025 when the hippo pulled him into the water
Despite lengthy delays before receiving medical care, Sam survived with just “aches and pains” remaining a year later
The wife of a Wash. man attacked by a hippo on their honeymoon has revealed how she punched the animal to help save her husband’s life.
Newlyweds Sam and Anna McKee from Port Angeles, about 80 miles northwest of Seattle, were sitting in a traditional dugout boat called a mokoro with a guide in September 2025, a couple of days into their “trip of a lifetime” to Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
The couple had married in a beachside wedding in Portugal just 10 days earlier, the Cascadia Daily News reported.
“Before we headed out, some of the guides pointed out this hippo... in the distance, and warned us that was the deep area — we’re not going to be going over there,” Sam, 31, explained on the U.K. TV show Good Morning Britain on Friday, Oct. 9.
A hippo in the Khwai River in Bostwana’s Okavango Delta (stock photo)Credit: Sergio Pitamitz/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty
They soon realized they’d drifted away from the rest of their group into the deeper area they wanted to avoid. Sam then heard a “really loud explosion” of splashing and grunting and turned around to see the hippo, mouth open, charging the back of the boat, he told TV hosts Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway.
“My initial thought was, ‘Don’t fall out of the boat,’ ” Sam said. “So I turned around and grabbed on to both sides. And that’s when I instantly got hit from the left.”
The hippo grabbed Sam’s torso in its jaws and pressed him down into the water below.
Hippos in Bostwana’s Okavango Delta (stock photo)Credit: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty
“At first, I had so much adrenaline that I didn’t feel a lot of pain, but just a force that I can’t describe,” he recalled to Good Morning Britain. “The closest thing I can imagine is like a car crash.”
The force of the animal’s attack also hurled Anna and the guide into the water.
A hippo in Bostwana’s Okavango Delta (stock photo)Credit: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty
She told Good Morning Britain that shewas “pretty disoriented” when she surfaced and was greeted with the sight of Sam lying horizontal in the hippo’s mouth. She then told the TV show that fight-or-flight mode kicked in.
“I chose fight,” she said. “In that moment, my thoughts were fractured: this isn’t real, this can’t be happening, Sam is dead, he’s dying.”
“I started running towards the hippo,” she added. “I clenched my fist and just charged the hippo and started punching it.”
The Cascadia Daily News reported that the hippo eventually released Sam and backed away. This allowed Anna to help her husband reach the shore before the animal could attack again.
Sam told Good Morning Britain that he only learned about his wife’s heroic efforts later on, and only discovered he couldn’t move his legs once he “popped” out of the water. “I tried to walk toward [Anna],” Sam told the TV show. “But my left leg just wouldn’t respond to anything my brain was telling it.”
At this point, Anna realized the extent of Sam’s injuries. “That’s when I thought for the second time, Sam’s going to die,” she said.
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Technical delays meant it took more than 13 hours for Sam to receive pain relief and 18 hours to get to a hospital in neighboring South Africa, Cascadia Daily News reported.
Despite needing emergency abdominal surgery, 20 staples in his torso, IVs in his neck and arms and a feeding tube and ventilator, Sam survived, and now only lives with some “aches and pains,” he told Good Morning Britain.
He has also discovered a new creative outlet through pottery, and sells his work to raise money to buy skateboards for children in need, according to Cascadia Daily News. The couple has also written a book about their experience, which they’re hoping to take to publishers.
“It was pretty horrific at the time, but we have a lot to be thankful for,” Anna told Good Morning Britain. “Sam’s my best friend. We’ve been together for 14 years. We’re high school sweethearts, so I’m just really thankful that we get more time together.”
Source: Nature
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