A THREE-year-old boy may have permanent brain damage after he and his mum were attacked by a giraffe. 
 
 Finn Williams and his mother Katy, 35, are fighting for their lives after being trampled near their home at a South African nature reserve. 
 
 6 Katy Williams and her son Finn are fighting for their lives following the giraffe attack, pictured with her husband Sam 
 
 Finn's dad, Brit scientist Dr Sam Williams, tried desperately to chase off the animal. 
 
 They pair were airlifted to hospital with docs working to release pressure on Finn's brain. 
 
 Sam’s aunt, Anne Oliver, said: "We understand that Finn had an operation to remove a blood clot on the brain. 
 
 "We’ve been told that he will have brain damage." 
 
 She added: "The last we heard was that Katy was having surgery and she is in an induced coma. She’s got multiple injuries." 
 
 6 The horror attack happened at Blyde Wildlife Estate in South Africa 
 
 6 It's thought Katy and Finn were waiting for Sam when they were attacked close to their home 
 
 Both patients are in a critical but stable condition at hospital in Johannesburg yesterday. 
 
 Blyde Wildlife Estate is a gated reserve with 154 homes protected by electric fencing and security guards. 
 
 The devastated dad, 36, said it was a "difficult time" and called the attack "an unfortunate act of nature where the giraffe saw his wife and son as a threat to her young one". 
 
 The attack comes just months after a cameraman died after being headbutted by a giraffe while working on TV drama Wild At Heart. 
 
 Husband Sam was returning home from work around 6pm on Monday evening and saw his US born wife and son under being viciously attacked. 
 
 Sam, a scientist who works alongside his wife on the reserve, then called for emergency services and the Hoedspruit Medical Rescue team raced to the scene. 
 
 6 The family have decided to stay positive following the attack, a representative has said 
 
 The giraffe, which had a two month old calf with it, is believed to have attacked the young mum and her son because it felt under threat when they surprised her. 
 
 A source at the Blyde Wildlife Reserve said: "Sam often goes for a run after work and I was told Katy and Finn were waiting for him to come back when they surprised a giraffe. 
 
 "The giraffe was with a calf and attacked them very seriously. They were very badly injured and Katy was doing all she could to protect Finn but the giraffe just towered over them." 
 
 They continued: "Sam was finishing his run and saw what was happening and managed to chase the giraffe off. His wife and child were covered in blood - you can imagine the trauma he felt." 
 
 6 Husband Sam was returning home from work and saw Katy and Finn under attack and was able to chase off the giraffe and save their lives. 
 
 He managed to get medical attention for them both and they were driven to an airfield where they medical experts did they best they could until they were airlifted to Johannesburg. 
 
 The source continued: "Everyone is crossing everything for the family - they are very well loved and everyone is shocked". 
 
 Dr Sam Williams confirmed in an update through his lawyer on Thursday that several doctors had operated on his wife at Busamed Modderfontein Private Hospital in Johannesburg. 
 
 Lawyer Marina Botha said: “The operation to attend to multiple injuries sustained during the attack from the giraffe was completed during the early hours of this morning. 
 
 “Dr Sam Williams would like to thank all doctors and medical personal from the hospital for their efforts to give his wife and son the best chance to heal. 
 
 “Both mother and son are still in a critical but stable condition. The family said that they have decided to take one day at a time and to remain positive” said the statement. 
 
 6 Local media appeared to claim the giraffe was being moved to a new reserve following the attack 
 
 Ms Botha said Dr Williams regards the attack as an "unfortunate act of nature". 
 
 She said: "He understands the giraffe saw his wife as a threat to her young one," the lawyer said. 
 
 On Facebook, Katy's father Jack Standish said he felt "helpless" as his daughter and grandson are in hospital. 
 
 He said: "Please send all your prayers and love to Katy, Finn and Sam... Thank the hundreds if not thousands of loving people who have send greetings of hope and prayers to me or my family. 
 
 "Thank you from a father who feels useless in not helping is wonderful daughter and loving Grandson." 
 
 The attack was just 150 yards from the home where the two scientists - with post PhD experience in animal-related fields - live and work on the reserve. 
 
 A spokesman for ER24 who sent out two air ambulance helicopters confirmed both Katy and Finn had suffered "numerous serious injuries" and were taken to hospital in Johannesburg in a critical condition. 
 
 6 The attack happened at the Bylde Wildlife Estate near Hoedspruit 
 
 Finn was the first to be airlifted by the ER24 helicopter to Busamed Modderfontein Hospital in Johannesburg and his mother then followed shortly in the second helicopter. 
 
 An operation was performed on Finn during the early hours of Tuesday morning to release pressure on his brain due to injuries sustained in the near deadly attack. 
 
 The manager of Blyde Wildlife Estate Riaan Cilliers confirmed the incident and said: “We are all in shock about this very sad incident and we ensure the family that they are in our prayers”. 
 
 Mr Cilliers confirmed that the giraffe in question has a two-month-old calf, which may have had an influence on her behaviour and may have been surprised by the mother and son. 
 
 According to local media, the giraffe could be moved to a new reserve following the attack. 
 
 The family has asked the public and media to kindly respect their privacy during “this very difficult time” that they are going through. 
 
 Earlier this year at cameraman on British TV show Wild at Heart was killed by a giraffe as he filmed at the Glen Africa game reserve in Broederstroom in North West Province. 
 
 South African film maker Carlos Carvalho, 47, was knocked 16 feet through the air when the giraffe slammed into him with his neck and died of his injuries later in hospital. 
 
 The TV series featuring a British family running an animal hospital in the African bush was filmed at Glen Africa for many years and Mr Carvalho had worked on most episodes. 
 
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 The giraffe that killed him was said to have attacked others in the past. 
 
 Giraffes grow up to 19 feet tall, can weigh over a ton and are the world’s tallest mammal. 
 
 Males can become aggressive in mating season and females can be aggressive when protecting their young. 
 
 Gerald the killer giraffe has a history of violence and tried to kill before 
 
 We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours. ||||| What to Know Millions of people have been watching the stream in anticipation of the birth of "April" the giraffe's fourth calf 
 
 Her story was vaulted into global headlines after activists complaining of "nudity" got the livestream yanked from YouTube 
 
 The livestream was back online about an hour and a half after the brouhaha started 
 
 STATUS CHECK: You Can See the Kicks in April's Belly! 
 
 
 
 The 15-year-old giraffe named "April," who has captivated millions of people across the world as they watch a live stream in anxious anticipation of the birth of her fourth calf at an upstate New York zoo, is still pregnant and doing well. 
 
 Veterinarians with the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, outside Binghamton, said April is experiencing increased belly movement. The happy and healthy mother-to-be has also started to produce milk and shed a few droplets during a Saturday evening examination. 
 
 The spotted beauty gazed into the camera, wiggling her ears as she chewed her breakfast Sunday morning. The zoo said the giraffes will stay inside due to the extreme temperature drop and wet or frozen conditions. 
 
 "Rest assured, they receive extra enrichment and extra attention on days they do not venture out," the zoo said. "A little extra bonding time!" 
 
 She and her mate, 5-year-old Oliver, had to be separated from each other while they frolicked outside Saturday afternoon because he got aggressive and wanted to rough house. According to vets, bullish behavior is common for male giraffes during the final stages of pregnancy. 
 
 "He does not want to play house -- he wants to ROUGH house," the park wrote in a Facebook post Saturday morning. "That is natural behavior as males take no part in rearing their young, nor have a need for a female once she is pregnant. Sad but true." 
 
 Viewers were concerned about the long-necked lovers' separation and questioned the vet's intentions until the zoo offered reassurance and told animal lovers to trust them. 
 
 Not much changed as the day came to a close: April alternated between standing still, swinging her tail, drinking water and slowly circling her pen. At one point during the afternoon, the calf could be seen kicking around in her belly. 
 
 April's pregnancy was catapulted into global headlines earlier Thursday after YouTube briefly yanked the zoo's live stream following complaints by animal activists that it violated the site's policies concerning "nudity and sexual content." Thousands upon thousands of commenters voiced their frustration on Facebook and YouTube, and the stream was restored within an hour or so. 
 
 More than 30 million people across the globe have tuned in over the last few days to watch it. You can check out the live stream above. 
 
 April was seen slinking gracefully around her hay-laden home Friday morning in no apparent distress. Once she goes into active labor, zoo officials say the keepers will go in to help her but the first-time dad will be held out of the pen. Active labo 
 
 Giraffe pregnancies last for 15 months. Labor lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The calf will be about 150 pounds and 6 feet tall at birth and up and walking in about an hour. The zoo says it will hold a contest to name it.
– For 40 days and nights, Noah's ark was said to have housed all variety of creatures—but probably not one like this, who just became the first of its kind to live past a similar 40-day mark, per National Geographic. Lucky the two-faced calf, who lives on a Campbellsville, Ky., farm, is the result of a rare genetic mutation that at first had owners Brandy and Stan McCubbin doing a double-take when she was born in mid-September. "From a distance, I thought I had twins lying together," Stan told WDRB at the time. "Then when I saw her, I was just completely blown away." The McCubbins' 5-year-old daughter named the calf after she heard her mom say the baby was lucky to alive. The BBC explains that two-headed animals like Lucky—a condition called craniofacial duplication, or diprosopus— can be produced in a variety of ways: They can come from a single fertilized egg that never fully separates, be the result of a developmental anomaly in which the head keeps growing until it breaks into two new ones, or emerge when cells that set off head development somehow get moved to the wrong part of an animal's body. Lucky's two middle eyes don't work, she can only walk in circles, and she tends to fall down a lot. She also needs assistance when chowing down—and both her mouths move when she's chewing—but she seems healthy otherwise. "It's something I've never seen before, and I think it's amazing," Stan tells WDRB. Check out a video of Lucky on the move via Caters News. (What appeared to be a two-headed dolphin washed up on Turkey's shores.)