BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - A crocodile attacked Zanele Ndlovu as she canoed with her fiance in Zimbabwe, ripping her arm so badly it had to be amputated. But the pair, due to marry just five days later, refused to allow the trauma to delay the ceremony.

The Zimbabwean told Reuters TV the crocodile punctured the inflatable boat carrying her and British fiance Jamie Fox, leaving the couple scrambling for their lives in the waters of the Zambezi.

“Firstly I was just pushing, kicking and trying to fight the croc as much as I could and eventually one of the tour guides managed to pull me out of the water and got me onto one of their canoes,” said Ndlovu.

The tour guides also pulled out Fox, and Ndolvu was airlifted to a Bulawayo hospital for treatment. Doctors amputated her shattered arm just above the elbow.

The pair married five days later after Ndlovu said she saw no reason to cancel. Friends and relatives attended.

The couple plan to settle in Britain. Fox said: “I think the first thing we are going to explore is a fully functioning prosthetic arm.”