A teenage boy who was dragged out of his family’s tent by a hyena in South Africa received emergency surgery to reconstruct his face, according to News 24 in Johannesburg.
Reports of the incident describe a harrowing scene of the 15-year-old waking up with the jaws of a hyena locked on his face. The animal dragged the teenager about 30 meters from a separate compartment of the tent where he had been sleeping.
RELATED: Arnold Schwarzenegger Charged by African Elephant
After being rushed to an emergency room, the teenager underwent surgery for eight hours. The plastic surgeons were said to have performed stellar work. They built up bones around his face, inserted plates and reconstructed soft tissue so that in the end the boy’s grandfather said he could hardly see the stitches.
The boy and his family had been camping in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Emergency responders were unable to locate the hyena but they did find a hole in the fence bordering the camp where it’s believed the animal entered.
RELATED: Leopard Kills Woman in South African Game Park
This is not the first accident at Kruger. Last July, a safari guide was attacked by a leopard attack in the park.
