"I understand you have been seeking information on my mauling by a lion in Tanzania this past season. Well, let me assure you that I have not lost a leg or some other body part, as has been rumored. The incident occurred in the Selous this past August 11. The lion that mauled me had been wounded by a client from Spain. Afterward, I was flown via Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, where a super team of doctors and nurses looked after me. My wife, Carole, was able somehow to arrange most of my rescue from Spain, and then fly to be by my side when I came out of the first operation.
"My prolonged stay in the hospital in Nairobi was mainly due to the need for plastic surgery on my leg and left arm. Seems it takes some 12 days for skin grafts to heal enough for surgeons to move on to another site.
"The lion had been rather lightly wounded in the lower right front leg and it took me some three hours to find it. It charged me in long grass, and I was unable to get down low to shoot. It came at me down a winding buffalo path, which made me wait longer than I like to in order to shoot. I finally shot when it was less than eight meters away. Even though my shot was lethal, it did not break the lion down. Although it wavered at my shot, it continued the charge.
"I shot it a second time right next to........(continued)
