SINGAPORE: When Mr David Andrada finished his usual jogging session at Tanjong Beach and was heading home three weeks ago, he spotted several otters in an “unusual” area – next to the pedestrian walkway.
“I stopped about 4m away and I was waiting for them to basically run, go wherever else. I wasn’t going to go near because I know the dangers of wildlife,” recounted the restaurateur and Sentosa Cove resident.
What happened next stunned him.
“One of them just turned at me and literally just made a beeline straight towards me, and then the two others followed,” the Australian told CNA.
As Mr Andrada stepped backwards to run away, he fell into some bushes. That was when the otters started biting him.
“One of them, the one leading the charge, actually came up close to my face … and as self-defence, I tried to push it away but it bit my finger along the way. But I managed to push them out,” he said.
The otters then went back to the nearby waters. Mr Andrada sought help from a nearby gardener before eventually getting treatment at Singapore General Hospital.
“I was bloodied everywhere. I couldn’t feel my finger anymore at that time so I was a bit worried,” he said.
The incident left him with gaping wounds on his thigh, calf and finger. He needed a three-hour surgery mainly due to his finger, receiving 10 stitches and a tetanus shot.
He ended up being warded for five days and was left with a hefty hospital bill amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, despite having medical insurance.
Doctors said his finger could take up to six months to recover.