Post by RealPitBull on Sept 23, 2008 8:16:56 GMT -5
www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=847544
Animals led journalist to safety through deadly blaze
The death of a wild horse that saved a man, six other horses and her newborn foal from being burned alive in a veld fire has devastated a rural community.
The mare, named Diamant by farmers outside Nelspruit, had to be put down after leading local newspaper editor Mark Stansfield through a wall of flame during one of the runaway fires that wreaked havoc in Mpumalanga three weeks ago.
Diamant, suffering from an agonising and incurable hoof infection contracted after giving birth, was shot last week by local horse lover Gordon Mullin, who adopted her foal.
Stansfield insists he would not be alive today if it were not for Diamant.
“I really thought I was going to die,” he said.
Three Sundays ago, Stansfield woke up to a cloud of black smoke and hot winds. The editor of a local newspaper in the Mpumalanga town of Lydenburg grabbed his cameras and headed towards the fire, one of several blazing around the province that day.
The fire was on the Kaapschehoop Guest Farm, owned by Wessel and Ira Naudé, where Diamant roamed.
“Being a newspaper man, I wanted some good dramatic pics,” he said. But within minutes, high winds blew hot coals over Stansfield’s head and set the forest on the other side of him ablaze.
Panicked and disoriented, he stumbled around in the smoky darkness, and then Diamant and her baby appeared, followed by six other horses.
Stansfield tried to lead the horses to safety and they began following him until Diamant began “neighing, shaking her head and telling us this was wrong.
“The other horses listened to her and started running along the wall of fire, leaving me there. I thought they were going to run into the fire and die,” Stansfield said.
“Something in my head said ‘no, they’ve been here longer. They must know the farm better’. So I just started running with them.”
When 5m-high flames were about 10m away, Diamant led the group through a “tunnel of fire” to an area that had not yet caught alight, and beyond to a farm road.
Overcome by emotion, Stansfield left the farm but later returned to visit Diamant.
“After the fire it was like we had some secret that we shared,” he said. “I was one of the few people that she allowed to hug her. I wouldn’t be here right now if Diamant hadn’t been there.”
Farm owner Ira Naudé said Diamant’s health began to fail the day after the fire. She had retained her placenta which began poisoning her body and caused the hoof infection for which she had to be put down.
She said: “She was just so brave and an amazing animal. It’s like a graveyard on the farm; there’s a big hole.”
Stansfield said: “I feel guilty because I’d come through the same episode and I was healthy, and here was this beautiful creature and she was in pain.”
Animal communicator Wynter Worsthorne said there were many stories around the world of both domestic and wild animals rescuing humans.
Diamant, she said, was able to sense a path out of the fire. During the 2004 Asian tsunami, elephants led many people to higher ground from the beaches “before people even knew what was going on”, Worsthorne said.
“It’s amazing how they are drawn to signs of distress and if they can do something about it, they will help.”
Animals led journalist to safety through deadly blaze
The death of a wild horse that saved a man, six other horses and her newborn foal from being burned alive in a veld fire has devastated a rural community.
The mare, named Diamant by farmers outside Nelspruit, had to be put down after leading local newspaper editor Mark Stansfield through a wall of flame during one of the runaway fires that wreaked havoc in Mpumalanga three weeks ago.
Diamant, suffering from an agonising and incurable hoof infection contracted after giving birth, was shot last week by local horse lover Gordon Mullin, who adopted her foal.
Stansfield insists he would not be alive today if it were not for Diamant.
“I really thought I was going to die,” he said.
Three Sundays ago, Stansfield woke up to a cloud of black smoke and hot winds. The editor of a local newspaper in the Mpumalanga town of Lydenburg grabbed his cameras and headed towards the fire, one of several blazing around the province that day.
The fire was on the Kaapschehoop Guest Farm, owned by Wessel and Ira Naudé, where Diamant roamed.
“Being a newspaper man, I wanted some good dramatic pics,” he said. But within minutes, high winds blew hot coals over Stansfield’s head and set the forest on the other side of him ablaze.
Panicked and disoriented, he stumbled around in the smoky darkness, and then Diamant and her baby appeared, followed by six other horses.
Stansfield tried to lead the horses to safety and they began following him until Diamant began “neighing, shaking her head and telling us this was wrong.
“The other horses listened to her and started running along the wall of fire, leaving me there. I thought they were going to run into the fire and die,” Stansfield said.
“Something in my head said ‘no, they’ve been here longer. They must know the farm better’. So I just started running with them.”
When 5m-high flames were about 10m away, Diamant led the group through a “tunnel of fire” to an area that had not yet caught alight, and beyond to a farm road.
Overcome by emotion, Stansfield left the farm but later returned to visit Diamant.
“After the fire it was like we had some secret that we shared,” he said. “I was one of the few people that she allowed to hug her. I wouldn’t be here right now if Diamant hadn’t been there.”
Farm owner Ira Naudé said Diamant’s health began to fail the day after the fire. She had retained her placenta which began poisoning her body and caused the hoof infection for which she had to be put down.
She said: “She was just so brave and an amazing animal. It’s like a graveyard on the farm; there’s a big hole.”
Stansfield said: “I feel guilty because I’d come through the same episode and I was healthy, and here was this beautiful creature and she was in pain.”
Animal communicator Wynter Worsthorne said there were many stories around the world of both domestic and wild animals rescuing humans.
Diamant, she said, was able to sense a path out of the fire. During the 2004 Asian tsunami, elephants led many people to higher ground from the beaches “before people even knew what was going on”, Worsthorne said.
“It’s amazing how they are drawn to signs of distress and if they can do something about it, they will help.”