LIMPOPO – After being mauled by an injured male leopard outside her home in the Sabi Sands game reserve in the Greater Kruger, Kath Powell’s journey to recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.

In August 2022, while preparing for her wedding, she knelt down to spray-paint a picture frame and a leopard grabbed her by the neck and leg.

A true miracle followed: thanks to the quick thinking of a neighbour and the heroic actions of emergency responders, Kath’s life was saved, and her leg was spared. She endured life-threatening injuries: a nicked carotid artery, a torn femoral artery, and severe tissue and muscle damage in her inner thigh.

The quick response of medical professionals and the heroism of those who helped her allowed her to survive this horrific attack.

“In fact, it was not just one miracle, it was many. From the paramedics who were just meters away to the on-call specialists who were ready and waiting when she arrived at the hospital, every step seemed destined for her survival,” said Nicholas Barkus, Kath’s brother.

Kath thanked everyone who helped paying for her recovery treatment and all the support they showed.

“Firstly, I just wanted to thank every person who has taken the time your messages, support, love, care, and of course the generosity for the Back-a-Buddy fund that my brother created for me to ease the financial burden that has come with the long recovery journey. At the moment we have been keeping our focus on coping through this nightmare and have not begun to start working through all the costs of the complications. My husband, as well as my brother and mom.”

On November 18, she had a neurostimulator installed at Sandton Mediclinic. “It disrupts the chronic pain messages to the brain and giving me an opportunity to an improved quality of life,” said Kath.

“The procedure was carried out in two phases. The first phase involved placing the leads of the device in my back in an awake sedative state, targeting the areas of severe nerve pain. For me, this required two incisions, one between my shoulder blades for the pain in my neck and the other in my lumbar region to address the damage to my left leg. The device was left outside my body during a trial phase, ensuring at least a 50% reduction in pain for the procedure to be deemed successful. Unfortunately, we discovered that I had developed an infection, which led to more testing to determine its source. It was decided to remove the device, as no clear source of infection was found elsewhere,” she added.

She underwent a surgery to clean the abscess. “After returning to the ward, my veins unfortunately were not coping with a normal drip, and a central line had to be placed. After that, I’ll be ready to leave the hospital and walk out those big glass doors that I hobbled into 10 days ago. As for what comes next; I am looking forward to going home, spending time with loved ones, and joining in on any festivities I can manage.”