Jambo The Gorilla Made Headlines All Over The World 37 Years Ago

5-year-old Levan Merritt visited to the zoo with his brothers and parents exactly 37 years ago, in 1986. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a nice day quickly turned into a nightmare that the family would recall for the rest of their lives.

Things could have ended quite differently for Levan on that day. After all, he endured a six-week hospital stay, tending to a fractured skull and a broken arm resulting from the fall. "I am forever thankful to Jambo as obviously it could have gone one or two ways. It was amazing how he protected me in that way," Levan told Daily Mail in 2016. Today, he is raising his children to have the deepest respect for animals and wildlife.