Crocodile Attack Survivor Continues Raising Money For School in Zambia

Amelie Osborn-Smith was attacked by a crocodile while travelling with friends last year, since the event she has been raising money for a local school to thank the community for their support.

Amelie, a teenage British backpacker had been appreciating a day of white water rafting in the Zambezi River below Victoria Falls in Zambia when she was mauled by a 10ft crocodile which put her into a “death roll".

The 18-year-old’s father told reporters that his daughter had been resting her leg over the side of the boat when the crocodile clamped its jaws around her calf and dragged her under the water. 

Her friend who witnessed the event said that the guides and fellow rafters leapt into the river to save Amelie from the crocodile: “It was chaos. There was blood and people thrashing everywhere. She is lucky to be alive”.

Amelie was airlifted 240 miles from Victoria Falls to the capital Lusaka where surgeons performed a life-saving operation and battled to save her leg, later, she was repatriated to the trauma unit of a London hospital to finish her recovery.

In a recent interview given to Sky News, Amelie explained that she needed something to divert her attention towards to cope with such a difficult physical and mental recovery, and she decided to raise funds for a local school to thank the community which helped to save her life.

Over a year later, Amelie has constructed a school, yet she is still raising money for the students, aiming to get a bus for the 104 children that attend.

Prior to her fund-raising, the citizens in the area never had the opportunity to learn how to read a write.

Amelie stressed that “education is the only way out” of the cycle of poverty and is proud of her contribution to the community.