By Dane Kieser

As told To Josh Hafner

My family and I are visiting a private farm for a barbecue. Loads of people are at the farm that day. Also at the farm are five male lions the owners keep in a fenced-in area, so of course I go out with this girl to see them. We sit down about a yard away from the fence.

We see one lion come over and sit in front of us, right on the other side of the fence. It’s chilling. What we don’t see is that standing water has rusted out the bottom part of the fence, making it weak. The lion, however, knows this. Suddenly a paw that would dwarf a man’s hand slings toward me under the fence. His nails land deep in my ankle, pulling me in. At first I think I can unhook them, but the nails are an inch deep; it’s just not possible. As the first lion pulls and my knees drag through the rusty fence, a second lion approaches and bites down into my calf. I yell at this girl to call for my parents; I know I’m not breaking free. The fence now scrapes past my hips as the third lion’s teeth clench into my upper thigh. His strength adds enough force to pull me inside the fenced-in area.

I’m no expert on big cats, but I know enough to immediately turn onto my stomach, covering my neck and face. And then, for whatever reason, two of the lions walk off, leaving just me and the dominant male, the one who first pulled me in. With his claws still in my ankle, he yanks me across the thick brush another 10 or 15 yards. I slowly realize they aren’t hungry; they’re possessive, claiming me as theirs. Were they hungry, I wouldn’t have made it this far.

I decide to play dead. The thing with lions is that if you kick them, it triggers the same predatory instinct that struggling prey does. You can’t scream either; their prey screams too. I lie there for minutes that feel like eternities.

People say that during a near-death experience you see your entire life flash before you, and I’ve always thought that was bullshit. But it’s true. I see myself growing up. I see myself playing rugby for the first time. Everything.

I notice the dominant lion left me, charging toward the other two. With a strange calm, I think to myself, this is it. This is my time. I manage to stand up, but the dominant lion notices. He reels back on his hind legs and gives me a swipe. In doing so, one of his nails plunges deeply into my chest, in and out. I later find out the nail missed my aorta by a millimeter. I fall back to the ground.

Dominant leaves me again for the other two. This time I grab a nearby stick. I back up to the fence, and as he notices I start swinging, keeping him a yard away. Further down the fence was the gate, my best chance for escape. I slowly slide toward it, swinging at the beast. By the time I reach the gate, everyone has arrived. The owner has a huge ring of keys. Luckily, the first key he tries works. The gate slides open and I’m pulled through.

By this point I’ve lost so much blood that I’m seeing in black and white, standing only on pure adrenaline. I look down at what was once my calf and see only a chunk of hanging meat. I stop surveying my wounds. The last thing I need is to faint.