Husband braves wild elephant to rescue wife and children

A daring rescue of a young wife and their three children from falling victim to a wild elephant attack was recently reported from Nagarwewa, Hambantota.

The man succeeded in saving his family but ended up badly injured, the report said.

The wife, Niluka Damayanthi (25) describing the incident said, “We lived earlier in Gonnoruwa but with those lands earmarked for elephant conservation, we were relocated here.

On this fateful day, the elephant came and put its trunk into our house around 6:30 am. As we started shouting, it smashed a wall of the house to the ground trapping us right in front of the animal which was about to attack and kill us all.

“Then my husband, Anura, jumped on to a side of the elephant to distract the animal from me and our three children. It then turned on him and attacked. He was thrown some distance and fell on the ground.

The elephant came back and smashed the rest of the walls of the house to the ground. At that time neighbours managed to scare the elephant away.

“If my husband had not bravely taken that risk, all of us would have been killed. He is receiving treatment at Hambantota District Hospital.

“We are very poor people and appeal to some benefactor to help us build a small home. My children are aged four, seven and 10 years. We are daily wage earning labourers.

“One of our children has been handed over to a temple as we can’t raise him.” If we can can have a place to live and cook with a small space to sleep, that will be more than enough,” she said.

If anyone is interested in helping this family, they can be contacted on 0719020306.