A three-year-old boy who was thrown into a crocodile enclosure at a Cambridgeshire zoo is now “playing using his feet and smiling again” after seven operations, his family have said.
The boy’s parents admitted they feared their son “wasn’t going to make it” after he underwent a 12-hour surgery on the day of the attack on 18 June. In that operation, surgeons “performed miraculous things” to repair tendon damage, nerve damage, blood vessel damage, broken bones and severe tissue damage in both his arms, neck, head and face.
“Boy, 3, attacked by crocodile at zoo can now play with his feet after seven surgeries, family says.”
The incident took place at Johnsons of Old Hurst, near Huntingdon. A 30-year-old man from Norfolk was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and later bailed after being assessed as not fit for interview. The suspect, who reportedly has learning difficulties, had been on a trip with carers; an investigation into his care is ongoing.
In an update on a GoFundMe page set up to support the family, the boy’s grandmother wrote that his parents remain at his side in a Cambridge hospital. The family described the boy’s most recent surgery, his seventh, in which surgeons performed a nerve graft on his left arm, harvesting a nerve from his leg to replace part of the missing nerve. “Over time, this nerve will hopefully embed and help our son to regain some function in his left hand,” they said, adding that they will not know if the graft is successful for several months.
The family said they are “not at the end of our journey” but are “hopeful” the latest operation “will be the last for now which means if everything goes well we will be able to go home soon”. Once home, they face new challenges shaped by his recovery and rehabilitation.
“Four weeks later and the cheeky little boy that we love so much is talking to the nurses, playing using his feet and smiling again,” they said.
