On March 22, 2007, Jeff was at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

While filming and working on a story along with Anderson Cooper for Planet in Peril on the topic of poaching of elephants as well as the sad plight of elephants in Cambodia, he happened to turn his back on the elephant. He was attacked by the elephant as a result. The elephant was just over his shoulder and placed Jeff’s elbow in its mouth while wrapping its trunk around his arm. He was swung and thrown around in the shallow waters. He was at the receiving end of severe damage and unfortunately had his elbow crushed. He reflected on how lucky he was to have not suffered from any torn connective tissues as well as broken bones despite the elephant being 15,000 times larger than him.

Below is a video which happened to capture the incident: