Former Zimbabwe all-rounder Guy Whittall survives lethal leopard attack

Former Zimbabwe all-rounder Guy Whittall survived a leopard attack earlier this week and is recovering after undergoing an emergency surgery. This is not the first time Whittall has had an encounter with the wildlife. Several years earlier, an eight-foot crocodile was found under his bed.

Whittall played 46 Tests and 147 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1993 and 2003 and now runs a safari business with his family in the country. The incident occurred when he was tracking the said leopard who was injured by a client. Whittall suffered cuts to his arms and legs and a five-inch cut on his head as well.

He could have suffered more gruesome injuries had it not been for his pet dog Chikara. Whittall's wife confirmed the incident in a Facebook post with some special words for his dog.

"Chikara [is] coming up tomorrow to the vet after being mauled by the leopard and getting the cat off Guy!" she wrote. "Very special boy."

"Guy and I are overwhelmed by the hundreds of messages of well-wishers after Guy's run in with a wounded leopard earlier today. We are very fortunate that he was stabilized at Hippo Clinic by wonderful staff. He was then Airlifted from Buffalo Range by Ace Ambulance to Harare, then transferred to Milton Park Hospital for treatment," she added.

"He really is one lucky man," Hannah told MailOnline. "First he had the crocodile and now the leopard, he really is the cat with nine lives."

As for his numbers, Whittall had scored 2,203 runs in 47 Tests with a best of 203. He has also recorded 10 fifties and four hundreds in his career to go with 51 wickets with a best of 4/18 in an innings.

In ODIs, he scored 2,705 with 11 fifties to his name and a best of 83. In bowling department, he took 88 wickets with a best of 4/35 in an innings.