Advertisement

Rhino Wars: Ranger Shot On Anti-Poaching Raid

Rhino Wars: Ranger Shot On Anti-Poaching Raid

Doctors didn't believe Ranger Andrew Desmet would survive his gunshot wounds.

He was sprayed with bullets after a soldier on the same anti-poaching raid as him panicked and open fire.

He was hit five times.

The bullets smashed his hip and femur, punctured and collapsed one lung, and caused massive internal damage to his intestines.

"I shouted 'stop shooting, stop shooting'," he said.

"I was angry. I won't tell you what language I used that night."

He knew he was critically injured.

:: Inside The Battle Against Rhino Poaching

"I put my hand under my bum and all I could feel was my own flesh and there was blood everywhere," he said.

But somehow he kept it together, not only struggling to stay alive but also organising the emergency effort to rescue him from the bush.

It took an agonising two hours before emergency help arrived.

By this time, it was dark.

"But it was a full moon, so one of my friends said he'd take the risk and fly his helicopter to pick me up," he said.

He even insisted on going to the larger hospital at Nelspruit when rescuers were planning to take him to the nearer, smaller one.

"I knew I had to stay awake. If I fell asleep, I wouldn't have woken up," he said.

He injected himself with phials of bee sting antidote, which he kept in his first aid pack because of his allergy.

"I just kept on pumping them inside me to fill myself with adrenalin and keep myself conscious," he said.

Somehow he managed it for more than two hours.

Then he collapsed once at the hospital and was in a coma for five weeks.

By the time he gained consciousness he had lost so much weight he was skeletal and had to learn to walk again.

Sky cameraman Garwen McLuckie and I first met Ranger Desmet two years ago when he was escorting us along the South African border with Mozambique to show us the problems with poaching.

More than 80% of the poachers into South Africa's Kruger National Park come from Mozambique.

A few weeks after the interview, the shooting happened.

"It's amazing how your life can just change in an instant," he said.

He was on his way home to prepare a braai (barbecue) for his wife and two daughters when soldiers asked him to point out a location where they suspected poachers were operating.

At the last minute he decided to take them "as they didn't know the area".

Once on location he spotted a group of poachers almost immediately and professionalism swung into action.

He began leading the soldiers towards the poachers.

The soldier in charge was young and inexperienced.

"I kept telling him to keep quiet or he'd alert the poachers," he said.

Then without warning, he opened fire with his automatic weapon from 13 metres behind.

"I knew straight away it wasn't the poachers," he said.

"They were too far in front."

The bullets came from behind him.

"I've taken the soldier back to the spot and we've had our private moment together," he said.

He seems to have got something off his chest, but it's difficult to imagine anyone getting over an incident so traumatic.

He's now back at work, training on the park's latest new weapon to fight the poachers - sport light aircraft - one up from a microlight.

They're comparatively cheap to build, purchase and run, and offer the section rangers the scope to cover huge areas of this massive land they have to police.

"This is my passion. It's my calling," he said.

"I've always wanted to do this and I am where I want to be."

A remarkable tale of survival. A remarkable man.

:: Watch Alex Crawford's special report Rhino Wars: South Africa's Battle With The Poachers on Sky News today at 11.30am, 2.30pm, 4.30pm and 8.30pm.