Topeka zookeeper opens up about her experience after tiger attack
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – For the very first time, KSNT News is hearing from a Topeka zookeeper after a tiger attacked her.
The story put Topeka in the national spotlight.
In April 2019, Kristyn Hayden-Ortega went into the outdoor area of the zoo’s tiger enclosure to clean it. Investigators found the doors leading inside the enclosure were left unlocked.
That’s when Sanjiv, a tiger she had worked with regularly, attacked her.
“I feel like I stayed calm,” said Hayden-Ortega. “I mean, like what i actually did and what i think i did may be two different things.”
The attack lasted just minutes, when her fellow zookeepers were able to lure the tiger away.
“I knew when he let go,” recalled Hayden-Ortega. “I knew when he walked away to go inside. I knew when members of the gun team arrived. I knew when the other staff arrived first to get him inside, so all of those things were just one more thing that was like either way, I’m going to be okay.”
Hayden-Ortega returned to work at the Topeka Zoo a couple months after the attack, but was still working on her recovery.
The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, where she underwent surgery for her injuries, documented her recovery process.
Her left arm, head, neck and back were injured in the attack. One of the most serious injuries she suffered was some nerve damage in her neck. It caused her left arm to be almost completely paralyzed.
“She injured the nerves coming out of her neck called the brachial plexus so her arm is paralyzed expect for the use of her hand basically and a little bit of extension of her elbow,” explained Plastic Surgeon for the University of Kansas Health System Dr. Ryan Endress.
She underwent surgery to help her regain movement in her arm.
While it hasn’t been an easy recovery, Hayden-Ortega said her coworkers at the Topeka Zoo and getting back to doing what she loves have served as her motivation to keep going.
“They did exactly what we trained for, that you hope you never have to do, but, you know, they saved my life and they saved his life,” said Hayden-Ortega. “It’s just one of those things where you want to try and do what you can to get back to it and get back to your life.”
Despite the attack, Hayden-Ortega has no hard feelings towards the tiger, Sanjiv. She even described him as chill and easy to work with.