Richard Field was only 25 years old when he thought he was going to be killed by a lion.
It was April 1999 and the Australian was working as a safari guide in Botswana, southern Africa.
Driving an open vehicle with clients in the back he came across some "super fresh" tracks of a lioness and her cubs.
When he lost sight of the tracks he left the vehicle to try and find them.
"I saw one of the little cub tracks and I knelt down because I had never seen cub tracks that small before," he said.
"I heard rustling in the bush and looked up and there was a lioness and she was coming at me full pace."
Mr Field found himself pinned to the ground with the lion on top of him.
He tried to fight the lioness off with his bare hands, but said it was "useless".
"She bit down on the back of my head, and I started tasting blood," Mr Field said.
"It was then I knew for certain that I was going to die."
But the lioness suddenly released him.
His safari group had come to the rescue, with one of his clients getting behind the wheel and driving at the lioness, chasing her off.
"They effectively saved my life," Mr Field said.
A long, isolating recovery
Mr Field spent six weeks in hospital.
It took him a year to return to the bush and start guiding again but the emotional recovery took much longer.
"For 15 years … I didn't talk about it at all," Mr Field said.
"I eventually realised that I couldn't get away with hiding my story. It was always going to be there."
Mr Field said it was hard to find people who understood his situation as he tried to recover from the traumatic experience.
Some 23-years after the attack, however, he came across a group called Bite Club while reading a story about a shark attack survivor returning to the water.
"I thought, 'I've been bitten on the head, so I reckon they might let me in as well'," Mr Field said.
Mr Field sent a Facebook message in 2021 asking if he could join.
He received a response from co-founder Dave Pearson saying he could not only join Bite Club, but they had other lion attack survivors as well.
"I didn't think there would be anyone else who had been attacked by a lion," Mr Field said.
"It's been amazing to be a part of such a caring and supportive group of people."
A decade of support
Dave Pearson was bitten by a shark while surfing off the coast of New South Wales during 2011.
He found talking with other shark attack survivors helped his recovery, so in 2013 officially formed Bite Club with fellow survivor Glenn Folkard.
The group was originally for shark attack survivors but soon opened its doors to other animal attack survivors as well.
It now has more than 400 members from around the world, including people attacked by hippopotamuses, crocodiles, bears and even wolves.
"Any animal attack, they're very similar," Mr Pearson said.
"When you realise you're a part of the food chain, it's a tough thing for a human to get."
Mr Pearson says "the first rule of Bite Club is we talk about our experience".
"There's such a deep understanding among our members," he said.
"A connection that you don't need words for."
No need to struggle alone
Mr Field said he struggled alone for a long time after the lion attack.
"There was no Bite Club back then," he said.
"It would've helped me a lot."
Joining the club has helped him understand and accept the life-changing moment.
"It's sort of transformed me in many ways, positively, since I've made the decision to embrace it rather than run from it," Mr Field said.
"I certainly suggest that people get help, and that they talk through how they're feeling and what they're experiencing."
