A South African man who was attacked by hyenas while camping at a bachelor party has described the instinctive actions that helped him survive.
Nicolas Hols, 27, had joined his father and friends for a fishing trip at Cape Vidal Nature Reserve in St. Lucia. After an evening of food and drinks around the campsite, the group turned in for the night around 1 a.m. Nicolas, who had been visiting the park since childhood, went to sleep in his tent, leaving a small six-inch opening in the zipper for ventilation.
Not long after, two hyenas entered his tent and launched a brutal assault. One clamped its jaws around his cheek while the other latched onto his ankle, jolting him awake in terror.
“They went straight for my face and leg,” Nicolas told PEOPLE. “I managed to rip myself free and then fought back. I went for the weak points — gouging at the eyes of one and shoving my hand down the throat of the other. It was pure survival instinct.”
Fueled by adrenaline, Nicolas’s counterattack startled the predators. The terrifying encounter lasted about a minute before the hyenas backed off and fled. Hearing his son’s screams, Nicolas’s father, Colin, rushed to the tent, finding him covered in blood.
“My dad acted immediately,” Nicolas recalled. “He pulled me from the tent, put me in the car, and drove me straight to Ballito hospital.”
The 27-year-old required 30 stitches to his head, face, and hand, and suffered severe bites to his ankle and thigh. Thankfully, doctors report he is healing well with no signs of infection.
Reflecting on the incident, Nicolas said: “I’ve camped at Vidal many times without issues. That night, I left a small gap open, but honestly, if the hyenas wanted in, they would’ve found a way. I’m just grateful to be alive.”
Colin believes the animals were taken aback by his son’s aggressive response. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he explained: “One hyena was pulling Nic out of the tent by his leg while another had his head. Nic shoved his hand down one’s throat and gouged the other’s eye, and that shocked them enough to let go. By the time I got there, they were gone — but Nic was lying in a pool of blood. I barely recognized him.”
Though shaken, Nicolas is now focusing on rest and recovery — and credits his quick thinking for saving his life.