Beside her was her nine year old son embracing her as she still try to come to terms with the news that the father of her children was found dead.
Agnes Maesioga was the latest victim of a crocodile attack last Sunday at the Mbokokimbo River, East Guadalcanal.
Her husband John Garega died saving her life.
Agnes said what her husband did for her will always be remembered as a loving husband who lost his life saving hers.
“Mi sore tumas lo wat happen lo hasban blo mi bikos hem die taim hem trai fo savim me (I’m sorry for what happened to my husband because he died trying to save my life),” she muttered.
The last time Agnes got a glimpse of her husband that day was when the crocodile dragged him into the water with only four of his fingers emerging from the water as the crocodile hauled him underwater.
The late Garega will always be Agnes’s hero.
Tuesday this week, the late Garega’s body was laid to rest in his home village in Samaria, East Guadalcanal.
It was even more painful that Agnes was not able to attend her husband’s burial because of the seriousness of the crocodile bite to her right thigh and hand.
This is a story of love, courage and tragedy.
It was like any other Sunday and Agnes and her husband were walking back home along the Mbokokimbo river bank.
They met one of her in-laws along the way and she decided to take a quick dip in the river whilst her husband and brother in-law sat on the river bank waiting for her.
After having a wash she was making her way up the river bank when she felt something gripped her right thigh.
“I tried to lift my right leg but it was heavy and it felt like something heavy was pulling me down.”
“I taught a dog had bitten me but when I turned around it was a crocodile,” she said.
Agnes said she panicked and tried to fight off the crocodile with her hands but only to find her right arm caught in the jaws of the crocodile.
“That was when I called out for help.”
Her husband and brother in-law were busy telling stories when they heard Agnes screamed.
Agnes said they came to her rescue and tried to pull her out of the gripping jaws of the crocodile but the predator held on tight.
She described it like a tug of war between the crocodile and the two men.
Agnes said she lost hope when she felt that the crocodile was pulling her underwater.
Her husband knowing that they could not match the strength of the reptile jumped into the river to try and fight off the croc to free her wife.
Agnes said that was when the croc let go off her right arm ripping off part of her flesh while it turned towards her husband.
She said her husband tried to escape but he was dragged under water.
As Agnes was rescued to safety by her brother in-law she cried as she watched her husband disappear underwater.
She said they could do nothing but just hope her husband would fight off the croc and swim to safety.
“The last I saw of my husband that day was only four of his fingers disappear under-water while he was dragged down,” she said.
“I don’t know what to say but if it wasn’t for my husband I would be dead by now,” she said.
Agnes was rushed to the National Referral Hospital hours after the attack.
She learnt of the news that her husband’s body was found on Monday evening and buried the next day.
Nurses said her injuries were pretty bad as part of her flesh was ripped off during the attack.
She didn’t even had the chance to pay her respect and salute the man who saved her life.
The widow from Arosi in the Makira/Ulawa Province is survived with four children; two boys and two girls.
They are aged 13, 9, 6 and 3.
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