HOEDSPRUIT – “It’s a miracle that my son is alive and that I was within three to four metres from him when the leopard attacked. I was able to react fast and I believe this is what saved his life,” said Mr Justin Denny, a financial consultant from Johannesburg.

His youngest son, Kellan (6), was snatched by a leopard on Tuesday April 26, from a low wall that surrounds the boma area at his holiday home on Ntsiri Private Nature Reserve in the Umbabat, in the Timbavati-Klaserie conservation area near Hoedspruit.

Kellan and his brother Kai (8), were playing a running game up and down the wall.

The incident happened about four metres from the house.

The leopard pounced, knocked Kellan to the ground, pinned him, bit into his shoulder and then picked him up in his jaws and headed in the same direction from which it had attacked, dragging him through a mopani thicket.

“We were outside for 30 minutes and I would assume it slowly stalked, getting closer and closer and when Kellan went and stood on the wall to do another lap, the leopard pounced.

“Fortunately I was about three metres away and could give chase. With lots of shouting and screaming I followed the leopard for about 30 metres into the bush.  “By the grace of God the leopard dropped my son. It was a total miracle,” said Justin.

Justin picked Kellan up and carried him back to the house. He had what Justin called, “typical leopard wounds”. Kellan sustained four main bites, two directly behind his neck, one on his left shoulder and the other on his left arm pit.

He was taken to a medical facility in Hoedspruit where he received stitches.

Kellan’s mom, Karen, flew in and the family realised they needed to get him back to Johannesburg where he could undergo the necessary medical examinations. Once back in Johannesburg, Kellan was admitted to Sandton Clinic for two days and underwent X-rays and an ultrasound to see if any bones were broken, and to determine if septicaemia had set in. Apart from severe bruising and some internal bleeding, he is doing well after recovering for a few days at the family’s home. He returned to school on Thursday.

“We are bush enthusiasts and have been going on holidays like these for years. We fully appreciate the responsibilities that come with being in the bush and it just so happens that the leopard is our favourite Big Five animal.

” We realise this behaviour was out of the norm,” said Justin.

Every precaution was in place for this not to happen as his kids were close to him and they were close to the house.

“We learnt from this experience that animals are opportunists. This leopard in particular was quite brazen. If it was not for me being so close the outcome could have been so different.”

He is relieved that Kellan has been “quite resilient” to being attacked.

“He is going to be fine but everything could have turned out so differently. We should all remember the bush remains unpredictable. There was nothing to suggest that this particular leopard was injured or old which is the norm when these attacks take place. It could just have been completely opportunistic given Kellan’s movement on the wall,” said Justin.

The manager on the farm confirmed by the spoor that it was a large male leopard. There is a high density of leopards on the farm which makes it difficult at this stage to determine which leopard was the culprit.