David Salmarcus News Today

Of the block wall building. and then she comes after him. >> and i looked up and saw cindy running right at me. and that will never leave my mind. that was terrifying. >> he couldnt get away from her. i thought she would kill him. >> hearing davids screams, the other keepers rush to the rescue yelling cindys name. >> cindy. >> eventually the elephant backs away. and david dives into a moat, howling in agony. >> while i was laying in the moat, i realized i was alive, the adrenaline wore off and t...

Remains until her death. its been more than two decades since david was attacked by cindy, but when it comes to remembering that terrifying day, his memory is like an elephants. hell never forget. >> its with me every day. its made me look at life and realize how precious it is. i probably should have died that day. coming up, selling bikes is no easy ride when a car smashes into the store. caught on a security camera, a pharmacist gives these armed thats what i like to call, the meta effect...

Remains until her death. its been more than two decades since david was attacked by cindy, but when it comes to remembering that terrifying day, his memory is like an elephants. hell never forget. >> its with me every day. its made me look at life and realize how precious it is. i probably should have died that day. coming up, selling bikes is no easy ride when a car smashes into the store. the holiday season is here, which means its time for the volkswagen sign-then-drive event. for practical...

With a 10,000-pound rampaging elephant. and finds himself fighting for his life. its january 31st, 1989, at san diego wild animal park. and young keeper david salmarcus is preparing to clean up the elephant enclosure. for david, then 20 years old, working with elephants is a dream job. >> it was a really good feeling when you would come in to the barn in the morning to greet the elephants, and they greeted you back. it made you feel great. you can call them by name and they would walk over to yo...

Full audience and you would hear the crowd clap, it gave you goosebumps. >> but despite the excitement, david knows that working with the worlds largest land animals is inherently risky. david is warned about one elephant in particular. >> cindy had a lot of crazy behaviors with other keepers in the past. >> a known danger to humans, only keepers who had trained cindy when she arrived from a tacoma, washington, zoo are allowed to get close to the animal. newcomers, like david, always use the mat...

Hes in trouble. >> i just had a feeling that she was going to come after me. so i yelled for help. hey bob! and right when i yelled hey bob, she ran after me. she knew the terror in my voice. >> with 10,000 pounds of angry elephant heading straight for him, david lunges for the quickest escape route. >> the fastest way out was diving under the belly of another elephant, so i can have a buffer between me and her. i did that, she hit the side of that elephant and i was able to go through the fence...

>> hes thrown against the side of the block wall building. and then she comes after him. >> and i looked up and saw cindy running right at me. and that will never leave my mind. that was terrifying. >> he couldnt get away from her. i thought she would kill him. >> hearing davids screams, the other keepers rush to the rescue yelling cindys name. >> cindy. >> eventually the elephant backs away. and david dives into a moat, howling in agony. >> while i was laying in the moat, i realized i was alive...

Just moments later he senses hes in trouble. >> i just had a feeling that she was going to come after me. so i yelled for help. hey bob! and right when i yelled hey bob, she ran after me. she knew the terror in my voice. >> with 10,000 pounds of angry elephant heading straight for him, david lunges for the quickest escape route. >> the fastest way out was diving under the belly of another elephant, so i can have a buffer between me and her. i did that, she hit the side of that elephant and i was...

2,500 pound steel gate. >> the most amazing thing is had her trunk not come through that fence and her head just hit the gate, i could have easily died because the gate would have hit me square in the head. >> david spends eight days in the hospital and undergoes seven months of rehab. eventually hes able to return to the zoo, but not to the elephants. >> after my rehabilitation, i was offered a job back with the elephants, and i thought id give it a try. so i went out into the field and i walke...

Enormous head as this tourist catches it all on camera. >> hes thrown against the side of the block wall building. and then she comes after him. >> and i looked up and saw cindy running right at me. and that will never leave my mind. that was terrifying. >> he couldnt get away from her. i thought she would kill him. >> hearing davids screams, the other keepers rush to the rescue yelling cindys name. >> cindy. >> eventually the elephant backs away. and david dives into a moat, howling in agony. >...