Tiger victim 'had done absolutely crazy things'

Revelations that the man viciously mauled by a tiger at Wellington Zoo on Thursday had absconded from Wellington Hospital's psychiatric unit have sparked calls for tighter security at mental health facilities.
Capital and Coast District Health Board, which started an inquiry yesterday into the incident, would not comment on the man's psychiatric history, but it is understood he had been committed to Wellington Hospital's Ward 27 under the Mental Health Act about a week ago.
The man, 29, has played premier club rugby league and been a national age-grade representative. Among other players, he was known to be "difficult" and to have had problems with alcohol. One league insider described him as "extreme . . . He has done some crazy things, absolutely crazy things. Frightening things".
According to a former teammate, the man shattered a shin after he was pulled over by police while he was driving a car. He tried to flee by jumping over a six-metre bank. That event "turned him mentally" and "it became him against the world".
A hospital source said that, because the man was assessed as neither a danger to himself nor others, he had been kept in the open part of the ward.
He left the hospital without permission on Thursday morning with a female inpatient, who accompanied him to the zoo. He was attacked by the tiger after climbing into its enclosure.
A team of seven doctors operated for 8-1/2 hours to save his life. A hospital spokesman said he had responded positively to the surgery on his neck and torso, but would need further operations next week. He is believed to have lost a kidney as a result of the attack.
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Zoo life sciences manager Mauritz Basson said there was no need to review security arrangements. "Broken down minute by minute, the zoo keepers and staff did bloody well. If it hadn't been for their excellent reaction and the way they dealt with the animal, this man would have been a goner."
(Bron)