Levan Merritt's Trip To Jersey Zoo

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It was a story that gripped an entire nation. Five-year-old Levan Merritt was knocked unconscious when he fell into a gorilla enclosure and was protected by a giant male silverback gorilla named Jambo.

Now, 30 years after the story made headlines around the world, Levan Merritt explains of the event and why he wanted to bring his children to see the place that shaped his life forever.

It was August 30, 1986, a date that would impact Levans life in so many ways- from establishing a life-long relationship with Jersey Zoo, to handling bullies at school who teased him with name calling, to explaining the dramatic story to his wife-to-be, Amanda.

As their trip to Jersey zoo began, the children were encaptivated by the spider monkeys and Levan remembered 'finding it funny as one of …show more content…

As Levan began to regain consciousness and started to cry, his family screamed at him to remain still. Jambo led the other gorillas into the indoor enclosure.

Right when the gate was closing, a younger gorilla called Hobbit rushed out, and in the chaos a paramedic and two zoo keepers dropped in and rescued Levan in a dramatic escape.

Levan's family had visited the zoo to celebrate the birthday of his youngest sibling, Lloyd, who was turning 4.
Little did he know his trip to the zoo, on the first day of their vacation, would be worldwide news, and catapult Jambo to international stardom.

Levan was quickly airlifted to Southampton General Hospital.

The footage of the incident was captured by a zoo visitor on a hand-cam.
The next day, when Levan was lying on his hospital bed, the family watched back the astonishing footage.
Recalling the first time he saw the astonishing footage, he told reporters: 'The first I saw of the video was in the hospital and I remember being incredibly surprised and quite shocked. I obviously couldn't believe what had

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