Film director, 47, killed by giraffe after being headbutted on safari
Carlos Carvalho was capturing close-up shots of Gerald the giraffe when the animal unexpectedly swung its neck, catapulting Carlos through the air and causing him to crash to the ground.
Sadly, Carlos succumbed to his injuries later that night after being airlifted to a hospital in Johannesburg, as reported by CallaCrew, a film agency. He had been shooting scenes at Glen Afric farm in Broederstroom, a location famed for its appearances in the British TV series Wild at Heart.
Richard Brooker, whose family owns the lodge, confirmed that Gerald, the bull giraffe, would not be put down as he was not considered dangerous.
"When Carlos was standing in front of the giraffe, the animal spread its legs, bent its neck and swung its head at Carlos," Brooker detailed. "Gerald will remain at the lodge. He did nothing wrong," Brooker informed The Telegraph, reports the Irish Star.
A spokesperson from Glen Afric suggested that Carlos had strayed from the group and ignored safety instructions not to approach the animals.
Drikus Van Der Merwe, a member of the film crew who was standing next to Carlos during the incident on May 2, 2018, said: "The giraffe started chasing the boom swinger who joined our unit."
He told to the Sun: "We didn't feel threatened because he just seemed to be inquisitive."
Yet, in a tragic twist of fate, the filmmaker met his end mere hours later.
Drikus said: "We started shooting closeups of its body and its feet. Then while Carlos was looking through the camera eyepiece Gerald swung his neck and hit him against his head. It came out of nowhere and Carlos didn't even see it coming. He wasn't aware of the danger."
Despite witnessing such a sudden and violent incident, Drikus held onto hope that his colleague would pull through, admitting: "I knew he had a severe head trauma. But I never thought he would die."
Carlos was celebrated for winning a Cannes Lion award for a South African Childline public service announcement in 2003 and served as the director of photography for The Forgotten Kingdom, the first feature film produced in Lesotho.
The Johannesburg father-of-two was honoured on Facebook as a "wonderful human being". Chris Roland said: "Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Carlos Carvalho, a very nice guy and talented DOP [director of photography] I had the honour of working with twice. A great loss to the industry. Farewell Carlos!".
Props master Thabiso Mohapi said: "RIP my brother! Meeting and greeting you that morning at breakfast shooting the first scenes of the morning didn't know it was our last time together."
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