Game of Thrones editor killed in lion attack

A Game of Thrones editor was brutally killed by a lion during a safari in a savage attack after it leapt through an open car window.

Katherine Chappell, 29, was on a safari near Johannesburg in South Africa when her dream vacation turned into a nightmare. She rolled down a window to take a photo of a lion lying on the ground, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

Suddenly, it stood up on its hind legs, leapt forward, and attacked her through the window. Eyewitness Ben Govender told the New York Post: “We saw the [guide] diving into the passenger seat and punching the lioness.”

“After the first bite, the lion retreated from the car with blood dripping from its mouth and paws.”

The beast then launched a second devastating attack, tearing apart its victim.

“Her face was shredded. The right side of her chest was gone. Nothing could have been done to save that woman,” Ben added.

He said the lion “had half of her shoulder in its mouth” during the attack, Mirror reports. Guide Pierre Potgieter, who bravely fought to save Katherine’s life, suffered a heart attack in what he described as “the worst experience” of his life.

Scott Simpson, assistant operations manager at Lion Park, has opened an investigation into the attack together with the police, KosovaPress reports.

Katherine’s family released a statement on Facebook that read: “Katie was a brilliant, kind, adventurous, and high-spirited woman. Her energy and passion could not be contained by simple continents or oceans. She was deeply loved and shared her love of life with everyone she met.”

At her farewell ceremony, her sister Jennifer Ringwald described her as “fearless.”

“Katie had a boundless passion for everything under the sun,” Jennifer said.

“No one who met her could ever forget her. Her flaw was that she was a 1.68-meter, 44-kilogram woman who deep down believed she was a 1.88-meter, 100-kilogram man.”

Katherine, a special-effects editor, was part of the Game of Thrones team that won an Emmy for the 2014 episode The Children. Originally from New York, she moved to Vancouver in 2013 to work on the show and also contributed to films such as Captain America and Divergent.