Many athletes with touching fates meet at the Paralympics. But the story of Philip Coates Palgrave, who competes as an archer for South Africa, is something special.
A fight with a hippopotamus nearly killed Philip Coates-Palgrave. Nevertheless, the South African archer is unusually tense before his Paralympic premiere. “It’s a mixture of emotions, obviously because of the size of the event and how lucky I am to be here,” said the 50-year-old.
Coates-Palgrave knows what he’s talking about. In 1995 he was driving vacationers in a canoe in Zimbabwe on the Zambezi River when his boat collided with a hippopotamus. He wanted to save the tourists quickly, but the animal snapped at him and grabbed his left leg. The hippopotamus tore him under the water, Coates-Palgrave fought for his life.
“A force of nature that you have no chance against”
“I kicked it twice and after that I realized it was just impossible. So I left it and gave up,” said the para-participant. In this situation, he recalled an earlier incident in Victoria Falls when he was being dragged underwater by rapids. “It was a similar force of nature that you have no chance to fight,” he said, explaining, “The longer you can save your breath, the longer you can relax every single muscle in your body.”
Coates-Palgrave expected the worst, but then suddenly the hippopotamus let go of him. However, the horror was not over yet. First he had to be transported 25 hours to a hospital in the capital Harare. He was then operated on repeatedly on his left leg for several months before it was amputated.
Then five years ago Coates-Palgrave got into archery. “I’ve never been an athlete, even if I had two legs. I was just lazy and useless,” he said. “Then one day I said that it was enough.” From Friday he hopes for a medal in Yumenoshima Archery Park, but he has already won the most difficult fight.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
