The Story in Wendy Martin's Own Words:
I booked a three-night stay at Il Ngwesi Group Ranch through Lets Go Travel, a Nairobi based Travel Agent. This is the only way in which you can book a stay at Il Ngwesi. This was our third visit to Il Ngwesi and was to be my "swansong" safari as I was leaving Kenya with my three children in the summer of 2000 to return to the UK. This was a very special trip with some of our closest friends in Kenya. We had been looking forward to the trip for many months.
Il Ngwesi is an expensive and exclusive camp. It is regarded as being in the luxury end of the tourist market in Kenya and Internationally. A visit by Princes Charles and William has certainly registered it on the list of place to visit. In 2000 when we visited, there were 4 Bandas (or rooms) at the camp and a group such as ours would take over the whole Ranch for the duration of our stay. It is a very remote place about 5 hours drive north of Nairobi. It is built along the lines of a tree house with wooden rope bridges joining some of the rooms. The rooms are stunning. They are open on one side to the bush but being raised up on stilt, according to the staff in such a way that prevented wild animals from entering. I was not altogether convinced about this.
There is a fairly large staff who are exclusively at the disposal of the guests for the duration of their stay. This team of men appeared to be led by James Kinyaga, who we took to be the camp Manager. All discussion about activities and conversations about arrangements were with James who spoke excellent English.
We had decided on this visit to self-cater and had brought all our own food. The cook and his kitchen staff would prepare this. Everything else at the camp was provided for us. The staff seemed very well trained and organised.
During our 4 year stay in Kenya we had been on safari many times before. On visits to the Masai Mara we had seen all kinds of wild animals and in very large numbers. It was not our intention to game view whilst at Il Ngwesi. My understanding was that Il Ngwesi was a place to have a "wilderness experience" not view game. Walking safaris were offered to us at many of the lodges we had previously visited and I always declined these feeling more than nervous about going into the bush where there were known to be wild animals. During our previous visits to Il Ngwesi we had hardly seen any animals at all and the Lodge was sold to us as somewhere you left your car parked and could venture, with qualified and armed guards, into the bush. On my first visit to Il Ngwesi I asked James why we needed armed guards if there were no animals around and he told me that the guards were there to protect us from roaming Somali bandits who were known to come into the area. However, he assured me that this was merely a precaution and in fact they had had no problems of this sort.
We travelled to the camp in our own vehicles on 1 June 2000. We arrived at the camp in the afternoon of 1 June 2000. We unpacked our luggage and generally settled into the camp. The children went for a swim in the camp pool. We had 10 children with us ranging from 10 down to 3 years old.
It is very important to understand that the holidays at Il Ngwesi are totally client-centred and that each day Mr James Ole Kinyaga, the Lodge Manager was on hand to tailor make a programme of activities for each visiting group. These meetings with James were to discuss the activities, which the camp could offer. James would then arrange the appropriate resources. Each evening James would arrive at the dining table and ask what the group would like to do the following day. He would suggest bush walks, bush breakfasts, camel rides etc. This had been the format on all our previous visits and was the format on the evening of 1 June 2000.
On the evening of 1 June 2000, James suggested a walk in the bush, a walk with the camels or a bush breakfast. The conversation came round to a discussion about running. Two of our group had been to Il Ngwesi before and James had taken them out for a bush run. A lengthy conversation started about the forthcoming Lewa Marathon. This 26 mile run was to take place for the first time in August 2000. The organisers were hopping to raise a large sum of money and all the staff at Il Ngwesi were very excited about this. Many of the staff were planning to run in this race, as were two of our group. One of our group asked if we could go for a bush run in the morning. James not only said that this was a great idea but was positively enthusiastic about the prospect. He told us that his brother had run in the Boston Marathon. We agreed with James that if only adults wanted to go then we might go for a bush run but if any of the children were going to come then it would be a walk. We arranged to meet James in the main living area of the camp at 7.00 am. I then left the table and took my younger children to bed. Leaving my son with his Father in the dining area. While I was putting my children to bed another member of our group voiced her concerns about walking in the bush and James reassured her that she would be totally safe. At no point was there any suggestion that jogging was not a good idea or that it would be unsafe or dangerous in any way.
On all previous visits to the camp we had a minimum of two gun bearers with us whenever we went into the bush. It never occurred to me that the guards would not come with us and I would certainly not have gone into the bush had I realised that the gun bearers were not coming with us.
At 7.00 am on 2 June, I woke to a beautiful sun filled morning. The three older boys with us were all ready to come for a walk but at the last minute decided to go for a swim instead. I walked up the steps to the main living area and met with Jenny, Jeremy and our guide. Jeremy and, a man were standing at the top of the steps to the camp. I took this to be James. He was a Kenyan wearing a red shuka. Jeremy and the guide set off down the camp steps leading us out of the camp. We were all laughing and chatting about nothing that I can now remember. As we passed the top of the steps I remember half noticing two men standing. I thought they were the guards. I wonder now if they were, in fact, the night guards but whoever they were they did not follow us out into the bush.
I chatted to my friend and it was not long before Jeremy and our guide pulled away. I felt uncomfortable at this and called them back. I realised then that we were alone and that it did not appear that the guards were with us. I was uneasy and suggested that we should turn back to the camp. We then ran as a tight group, two and two. We were discussing the size of my feet as were were running back over our original footprints. My feet are very small for my height. It was at this point that a terrifying sound broke the silence. A loud and terrifying trumpet went up. A short distance away I could see a large elephant’s head swinging about above a low bush. It looked very angry indeed. Our guide was, in fact, not James but a man called Kip. He told us all to stand still and very quickly followed this by an instruction to run. His voice was panic stricken and he just yelled run, run, run. He did not tell us which way to run or to run together, he just yelled run. The three of us just turned in total panic and ran. I fell over and got caught on a thorn bush. The guide pulled me up and he shouted and clapped his hands then he started to run away. According to Jenny, the other member of our group, Kip was right behind her as she went up the steps into the camp. I, however, was seen by Jenny running and jumping over low bushes in an attempt to get away from the charging elephant. I realised that there was no chance for me to out run this massive beast and I threw myself under a low thorn bush and curled up in a ball hoping to avoid its attack. This was to no avail. I was clearly the target and this elephant was not going to give up..
The elephant was upon me and I cannot tell you what agony and terror followed. Its head bashed me repeatedly as it forced my 8 stone body through the bush, through the thorn trees for about 30 yards. I was told that the route that I had been pushed was clearly visible after the attack. I could hardly breath because of the dust, which was choking me, the pain was just indescribable. I was being crushed under its enormous weight. I was blinded by pain and dust. I was trapped in a dark excruciating tunnel, which seemed to me to be marking the end of my life and my passageway to death. Eventually it forced its tusk through my body, running me through my chest and lower abdomen, my right thigh and right calf. The excrutiating agony and terror of this will stay with me, everyday, for the rest of my life. I was facing certain death. I felt total disbelief that this was really happening to me. I thought of my three young children. My three beautiful children facing their lives without me.
At some point the elephant knelt on me and I think this is probably when my pelvis was crushed under its weight. I also remember being lifted up of the ground and then crashing down again. I suspect I must have lost consciousness at some point but I remember hitting the ground and thinking, I’m dead, I must be dead. Then it was silent. Nothing just pain. If you could just imagine having been run over by a steam roller then you might get somewhere towards how I felt. I felt very, very small and flat. I was lying on my side. I heard a noise and then Jeremy was beside me kneeling down with his face close to mine. He was terrified. He was shouting, "is there anyone there" "help is there anyone there". I told him that I thought I was dieing. He told me that I was tough and I must not think about dieing. No, not dead. I’m still here fight, fight, fight and so it began.
The next person I remember was Jenny. I heard a car arrive and then Jenny was beside me too. I needed to hold someone’s had – I felt I was hanging onto life itself by feeling the warms of another humans flesh. I looked down at my stomach and could see what looked like my intestines hanging out. I glanced across at my right leg and could see a huge wound both on the back and the front of my right thigh. It seemed to go all the way round my leg. There was another gapping hole in my right calf. I remember thinking how odd that my pink running shoes were still pink. Everything else was filthy and blood stained.
My breathing was very laboured and I cannot describe to you the pain it seemed to reach a peak and slightly subside only to rise again so quickly that I could not hardly get a breath in-between. Jeremy asked if I wanted Steve, my husband, to come down. I said he should stay with the children.
There seemed to be a lot of people arriving and I could hear voices. The sun was beating down but I felt so cold, so very, very cold. Shock. Now I will die if they don’t do something fast. I was well aware of the very serious state that I was in and how very far we were from help. I told Jenny to cover me up. I felt like a block of ice was inside my body and it was spreading out to engulf any warmth left in my body.
I felt if I could just stay conscious then I stood a chance of surviving. I repeated their names – Matthew, Rosanna and Emily. My children. Alone in the wilderness of Kenya. I counted. I counted to 10 and back. Breath in and out. Again, breath in and out. Keep it going. Jenny told me that they had radioed Lewa and that Ian Craig was on his way in his plane. They also said that a nurse happened to be at Lewa. She had been caring for a terminally ill woman who had died earlier that morning. She was coming with Ian Craig.
I told them to find something solid to carry me on. I remember saying that they should tie my legs together – I don’t know if they did this or not. Jeremy ran up to the camp and according to my children he knocked all the cutlery and glasses off the top of a wooden table top and with the help of Steve lifted this and carried it down to the bush. I remember a mattress too. I think they put the mattress on top of the wooden tabletop.
When Steve arrived at the scene, I remember him just standing saying "Oh my God, Oh my God". He knelt beside me and I told him to tell the children how much I loved them. I also told him that I loved him too.
Two planes arrived. One with Ian Craig and Coco the nurse and the other with Fuzz Dyer. I have subsequently discovered that Fuzz Dyer was the Head of Security for Lewa, Il Ngwesi and Borana.
Coco had IV fluids with her, which was very lucky indeed. She set up a line and then I was lifted onto the table and carried to the plane. As I was lifted onto the table – I screamed. There seemed to be a lot of people around me. The table was pushed into the back of the plane and Coco climbed in beside me. Jenny had to go into the other plane initially. It was a very strange decision but they decided to fly North first towards a place called Wamba where there was a German Doctor working in a bush clinic. I recall him looking in at the back of the plane and saying there was nothing he could do for me and that they must get me to Nairobi as quickly as possible. This undoubtedly wasted time and I remember thinking that this Doctor clearly thought I would be dead before I got there.
We flew on. I could hear Jenny talking on the radio. I remember telling her to contact Lou Cantamessa – a Doctor friend of mine. Although my eyes were closed I can remember the sun shining through the window on my eyelids. It was very bright. Coco said to Jenny that she was going to start cutting off my hair. It was thick in mud, thorns, blood and burrs – I told her that she must not cut off my hair! An instruction I had to give several times over the next few weeks to preserve what remained of my hair. An awful lot was pulled out as I was forced through the bushes.
We landed in Nairobi. I do not remember much about our journey to Nairobi National Hospital only that there was a problem getting me into the ambulance and it seemed incredibly small. I vaguely remember being wheeled into the Hospital. Apparently I was talking about my leg and telling the attending Doctors "do not do anything to my leg". I have always had a mortal fear of loosing a limb and I was clearly very concerned about the state of my right leg. Then next thing I remember is being wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit.
The surgeon at Nairobi National Hospital, Dr John Kariuki undoubtedly saved my life. His surgical team worked on me for 6 hours. Identifying all the injuries and dealing with them.
left sacral alar fracture
left acetabular fracture
transverse process of L5 fractures
Bilateral fractures through both superior pubic rami
Bilateral fractures through both inferior pubic rami
Severe deformity of the pelvis due to major crush injury
disruption and instability of the pelvic ring
rib fractures
duodenum virtually transected in the first part
right kidney and overlying rib so severely damaged that right nephrectomy carried out and rib removed
multiple massive soft tissue injuries to the right thigh and calf with subsequent very serious infection
substantial loss of tissue on medial thigh
closed head injury
dislocation of sternoclavicular joint
nerve damage to left arm – loss of elbow flexion
Lacertation and subsequent scaring – extensive
Two Lumbar hernias, one abdominal hernia
Nerve damage most serious in right leg
Sacral nerve damage left leg
I spent 10 days in hospital in Nairobi, undergoing 2 emergency operations. I was then flown by air ambulance to the UK where Mr Martin Bircher took over my case. Initially this was at St George’s hospital in Tooting and subsequently I spent time at Ashtead Hospital, the Alexandra Hospital in Manchester, East Grinstead Hospital and The Lister in London. I have spent about 4 months in hospital. The past three years have been spent rebuilding my body and my life. It has been the most enormous struggle.
The past three years have been difficult in the extreme. My GP said to me "you have been to hell and back" and he is right but this kind of hell stays with you always in some shape or another. However, there has been a huge stress in addition to the physical and mental challenges of coming to terms with my injuries, which was totally unnecessary. If you read the leaflet "Eco-Tourism – at what price?, you will understand the extreme frustration, which has turned to anger, at the individuals and organisations involved in the running of Il Ngwesi Lodge. Please take time to read this leaflet and consider the very serious issues that are raised.
Wendy Martin
