She
has since been discharged and is believed to still be in the country
recovering with her fiance Jans de Klerk, who escaped unhurt.
The
couple were on holiday to celebrate their recent engagement and for
Miss Brooks to meet her fiance’s South African family, friends said.
Pictured: A similar attack in the park in April left two people seriously injured
The elephant ripped through the back Ms Brooks' upper thigh and she was airlifted to the Medi-Clinic in Nelspruit
Park
officials later shot the elephant which was in musth, a periodic
condition in males that makes them aggressive when their testosterone
levels rise by up to 60 times. It also had an injury, which is believed
to have increased its aggressiveness.
African
bull elephants can weigh up to six tons. Describing the December 30
attack, park spokesman William Mabasa said: ‘The elephant suddenly
stopped, turned around and rapidly walked towards the vehicle, which was
stationary.
‘It charged at them, attacked the vehicle and flipped it over off the road into the thick bushes.’
Miss
Brooks, who studied biomedical science at Northumbria University and
now teaches at a school in Spalding, was discharged from the Medi-Clinic
Nelspruit earlier this week.
Neighbours at the home she shares with her fiance said yesterday that she was yet to return from South Africa.
Vast: The huge Kruger park lies in South Africa's north-east, next to Zimbabwe and Mozambique (file picture)
Lyn
Skells, a retired teacher who has been friends with Mr de Klerk for
three years, said the couple have extended their stay for another three
weeks as they recover from their ordeal.
She
said: ‘They had just got engaged and were on holiday so she could meet
all his family in Africa. It really is awful what happened at what
should have been a happy time for them.’
The attack was believed to be the third by an elephant at the Kruger park last year.
Another
of the animals was shot dead earlier in December when it charged at
traffic officers. It had apparently ignored warning shots.
Two tourists were also injured when their vehicle was overturned by an elephant in April.
And
British pensioner Colin Manvell, 68, was trampled to death by a wild
bull elephant while bird-watching at a jungle waterhole in Tamil Nadu,
southern India, last year.
Mr Mabasa advised park visitors to keep a safe distance from wild animals.
By
Tom Kelly