Chen Chung-ho did not trip or fall: he entered the enclosure of a male lion and a lioness at the Taipei Zoo in Taiwan and shouted at them to bite him.
At first, the animals seemed calm. His shouting and the antics he performed with his jacket put them on the defensive. The lion lunged, tore his garment, and bit his arm; the force of the blow knocked him onto his back, and the big cat pounced on him, biting his arm and leg over and over. At that moment, anyone would have run. Chen did not: he spread his arms and recited a prayer. The phrase the media attribute to him is “Jesus will save them”.
Zoo staff had to use hoses to spray water to distract the lions and then fire tranquilizer darts at them to get him out.
He came out alive, with multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and was taken to a hospital. There, doctors referred him to a psychiatric clinic. According to zoo staff, he was delirious and trying to recreate the biblical scene of Daniel and the lions, in which God saves him.