- Ng’ikalei Loito was swimming with his family members when a crocodile attacked him and crushed both of his legs
- Doctors had to amputate both legs after turning green in the hospital overnight
- The mother of five children, who used to sell mandazi for a living, is now totally dependent on her siblings
It was a sunny afternoon, and Ng’ikalei Loito was coming out of the warm waters of Lake Turkana in Lowarengak town, Turkana County, after swimming with her two sons-in-law. He never made it to shore safely. He never made it to shore safely
Source: UGC
Without warning, the crocodile closed its jaws on his legs with a force he says cannot be compared to anything.
Screaming in pain, the 33-year-old woman grabbed a tree that was partially covered in water and held on while the dangerous animal tried to drag her under the water.
“When a crocodile attacks, it feels like death is certain,” Loito recalled in a statement from the Agency The Guardian.
His mind thought of his five children. Who would take care of them?
The villagers who heard his cries ran into the water, and the violence finally made the crocodile let him go.
He was pulled out of the lake, his legs covered in blood and badly injured, then carried in a police van for the three-hour journey to the nearest hospital.
Doctors initially hoped to save his legs but by the next afternoon, both had turned green.
Paramedics put a plaster cast on one leg and an external bone fixator on the other.
But when they checked him again the next afternoon, all the legs had turned green. Only one finger showed signs of life.
The decision was made quickly: all the legs had to be amputated.
“The legs were completely damaged,” Loito said during an interview at his home in Kalokol town, his tricycle which is now his only means of transportation is parked nearby.
Before December 2024, when the attack happened, Loito had built a normal life for himself by frying and selling mandazi to provide for his children.
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Today, that life no longer exists. “My life has changed completely. I can’t do anything now,” he said.
What’s Happening in Lake Turkana?
Lake Turkana, the world’s largest permanent lake in the desert, has been slowly rising for several years.
A 2021 government report found that its area had increased by about 10% in the past decade, mainly due to increased rainfall linked to climate change.
The rising water has submerged houses, schools, farms and entire villages in the area and has pushed Nile crocodiles from their usual habitat directly into areas where people fish, fetch water and where children play.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) County Manager, Elijah Chege, confirmed the relationship.
“Increasing water levels and habitat destruction forces crocodiles to move closer to human settlements. Their aggression increases during the breeding season, increasing the risk of attacks,” Chege said.
In the past year alone, KWS recorded seven deaths and 15 injuries from crocodile attacks in the area and officials admit that many incidents go unreported.
Loito Not Only Neighbors Tell Horror Stories
Across the street from Loito’s home, his neighbor Ng’ispaan Long’olan sits every day on a wooden stool selling water and charcoal, with two crutches by his side.
In 2018, one day after her last child was born, a crocodile bit her legs while she was untying a fishing net in the lake.
As the animal began to grind its right leg as well, Long’olan did something unusual: he inserted his fingers into the crocodile’s eye.
The animal let him go, but his left leg was stuck and badly damaged beyond saving.
He instructed his fellow fishermen to cut it using a traditional Turkana hand knife.
“I was in a lot of pain and my leg was torn and completely destroyed,” he said.
He now has metal in his right leg. The two fingers he used to fight the crocodile have remained completely numb.
In the nearby lagoon of Long’ech, the sadness is even greater. Ayanae Loong’orio lost her eight-year-old daughter, Esther Ikimat, in 2024, when a crocodile attacked her from the edge of the lake during lunch break at school.
A video shared online showed the animal swimming with the child’s head and hand hanging in its mouth.
Another mother, Felisters Dapat, still visits the place where her son Daniel was taken, his legs were found on the beach, but his whole body was never found.
“What can we do?” Dapat asked. “Even if people kill crocodiles, they will continue to breed.”
KWS Says They Are Busy But Residents Want Quick Answers
KWS says it conducts community awareness campaigns, deploys police to monitor crocodile movements, and relocates or kills dangerous animals when necessary.
But manager Chege was clear about the challenge.
“We have to teach the community to live together with these animals. We need to balance conservation and community safety. Because crocodiles, in the end, should be in their habitat,” he said.
Long’olan strongly disagrees. “The only way to end the attacks is for KWS to shoot the crocodiles to death,” he said emphatically.
For Ng’ikalei Loito, policy debates seem distant. He went swimming and returned home without his legs, without his income, and without the life he had built for his children.
The lake continues to rise. And the fear is growing too.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
