Occurred on June 13, 2019 / Zambia
Info from Licensor: "Written by the student that got hit: 'In June 2019, I had the amazing opportunity to raise all of my personal funds to go to Zambia, Africa with my high school, Grace Prep, for a 12-day mission trip partnering with Heart of the Bride Ministries. The part of the ministry we were going to work with helps young boys and men that live on the streets get back on their feet by building relationships with them, helping them get off of drugs and give them opportunities to receive an education in a learning center. Our flight was around 20 hours and then a bus ride that was 10 hours long. After all of that, we thought it would be best if our first day in Zambia was relaxing and stress-free and so we stayed near a safari reserve. There were some pretty fun and interesting activities to do. There was a nature safari walk, a safari ride, taking cheetahs for a walk, and even feeding elephants. So that evening we planned on taking a nice walk to dinner but before we did, we saw the beautiful elephant perched on the edge of its evening enclosement. (This was a female elephant that has the freedom to roam in its 10,000-acre reserve all day and voluntarily returns each night for a meal and a bath.) As we stood there, we were all admiring the beauty of this animal by taking photos and petting it as it was reaching out to us. The leader for our group and Dean of Student Life at Grace Prep, Jarrod Sechler, was also amazed and wanted to capture the moment of all of us seeing this elephant up close. I stood there smiling with joy, as elephants are one of my favorite animals, so I started to take some photos. I thought to myself, “Wow, no one is going to believe I was this close to a real live elephant” but boy did I get “close.” Next thing I knew, WHAM!! Right in the side stomach. I felt like 10 people had punched me at once as I was catapulted backward and my phone flew forward to the ground. I abruptly crashed into one of the boys that was on our trip and he stopped my fall, but the “abrupt” feeling of surprise was still there! Yes, I had the wind knocked out of me, no it didn’t hurt, yes I’m okay, and yes I still love elephants! It took me a couple of minutes to fully process the fact that I just got smacked by a real living elephant. One of the best parts is that it was all captured on video so everyone, knowing I was okay, could get a good laugh out of it. This was a very shocking, interesting, and somewhat funny start to an amazing life-changing team experience. Not just because I was hit by an elephant, but because I had the privilege of working with such amazing people and built relationships I will remember forever. If I had to get whacked by an elephant to partner with this amazing ministry again, I would do it all over the same exact way!'"
