I was just laughing at how much different some parts of the world are than mine, not at the boy's misfortune. I probably should have clarified.
My worst fishing experience involved snagging my brother in the cheek when he walked behind me. (Well actually it was his worst fishing experience, I thought it was awesome at the time.)
That kid was suggested to have been attacked by a fucking hippo, which means its common enough there that when someone walks into a hospital without an arm, people consider that the most likely reason.