Shocking survival story: A farmer escaped a crocodile attack by biting its eye!
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The potential dangers of the Australian wild can bring horrors to most people. One of the most dangerous wild animals out there is the saltwater crocodile.
Saltwater crocodiles are apex predators that have been prowling Australia's waterways. Their jaws are so powerful—no prey could easily escape from them!
So when a 3.2-metre crocodile grabbed a cattle farmer in his 60s near a billabong, the odds were stacked against him.
Farmer Colin Deveraux was about to put up fences near the Finniss River in early October.
When he stopped at a billabong, he noticed that fish were swimming there.
'The water had receded and it was down to this dirty water in the middle,’ he recalled.
Enticed by the fish, he then took a step, then another to approach the water.
That’s when he was attacked by a 3.2-metre crocodile!
'It was a big grab and he shook me like a rag doll and took off back into the water, pulling me in,' he told ABC News.
He tried to escape from the crocodile's jaws by kicking it in the ribs with his left foot—to no avail. He then resorted to giving the hungry critter a taste of its own medicine.
'I was in such an awkward position…but by accident, my teeth caught his eyelid. It was pretty thick, like holding onto leather, but I jerked back on his eyelid, and he let go,' Colin said.
‘I had no choice (but to bite the crocodile). It all happened in about eight seconds,’ he added.
He leapt away from the crocodile and ran as fast as he could to his car—with the croc only managing to chase him for four metres before giving up.
His foot and leg were severely injured; he strapped them with a towel and rope to stop the bleeding. His brother drove him 130 kilometres to the Royal Darwin Hospital, where he received treatment for almost a month.
He was advised that the bacteria on his injuries needed to be flushed out for ten consecutive days.
‘(The) biggest problem was having to clear out all the bad bacteria (from the injury)...so all billabong water full of mud, goose [dung], duck [dung], and crocodile teeth marks (on my leg),’ Colin said.
Doctors were hopeful that Colin could leave the hospital in the next few days after receiving a skin graft.
Some skin around his injured area died, ‘so they had to pull all of the skin off and put a few staples in around it to keep it all hanging right,’ Colin said.
He added that the doctors ‘laid a big skin patch over the top of the holes...and they pulled the bandage off this morning, and the grafts are sitting in real good.’
‘There's a bit of a piebald colour to it, but the doctor reckons it's very heartening to look at so far.’
Colin realised that he was lucky to have survived the attack. He said that the crocodile ‘was really in his [prime]...If it had bitten me somewhere else, it would have been different.’
'He could have got [my] arms or [my] guts...I was pretty crook there for a while,' he added.
The attack was a life-changing experience for Colin.
'I've been walking around that swamp country too long fixing fences and living life, but it's opened my eyes,' he said.
The crocodile that attacked Colin was already caught and ‘removed’.
‘He won’t be doing it again,’ he said.
Crocodiles can be quite sneaky troublemakers. In a similar story, one family learned a valuable lesson–the hard way. They were enjoying a swim at Wangi Falls in Darwin when they realised it was the same spot where a man was attacked by a saltwater crocodile! Read more about it here.
What do you think of this story? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Saltwater crocodiles are apex predators that have been prowling Australia's waterways. Their jaws are so powerful—no prey could easily escape from them!
So when a 3.2-metre crocodile grabbed a cattle farmer in his 60s near a billabong, the odds were stacked against him.
Farmer Colin Deveraux was about to put up fences near the Finniss River in early October.
When he stopped at a billabong, he noticed that fish were swimming there.
'The water had receded and it was down to this dirty water in the middle,’ he recalled.
Enticed by the fish, he then took a step, then another to approach the water.
Colin Deveraux was putting up fences near the Finniss River when a crocodile attacked him. Credit: Shutterstock
That’s when he was attacked by a 3.2-metre crocodile!
'It was a big grab and he shook me like a rag doll and took off back into the water, pulling me in,' he told ABC News.
He tried to escape from the crocodile's jaws by kicking it in the ribs with his left foot—to no avail. He then resorted to giving the hungry critter a taste of its own medicine.
'I was in such an awkward position…but by accident, my teeth caught his eyelid. It was pretty thick, like holding onto leather, but I jerked back on his eyelid, and he let go,' Colin said.
‘I had no choice (but to bite the crocodile). It all happened in about eight seconds,’ he added.
He leapt away from the crocodile and ran as fast as he could to his car—with the croc only managing to chase him for four metres before giving up.
His foot and leg were severely injured; he strapped them with a towel and rope to stop the bleeding. His brother drove him 130 kilometres to the Royal Darwin Hospital, where he received treatment for almost a month.
He was advised that the bacteria on his injuries needed to be flushed out for ten consecutive days.
‘(The) biggest problem was having to clear out all the bad bacteria (from the injury)...so all billabong water full of mud, goose [dung], duck [dung], and crocodile teeth marks (on my leg),’ Colin said.
Doctors were hopeful that Colin could leave the hospital in the next few days after receiving a skin graft.
Some skin around his injured area died, ‘so they had to pull all of the skin off and put a few staples in around it to keep it all hanging right,’ Colin said.
He added that the doctors ‘laid a big skin patch over the top of the holes...and they pulled the bandage off this morning, and the grafts are sitting in real good.’
‘There's a bit of a piebald colour to it, but the doctor reckons it's very heartening to look at so far.’
Colin realised that he was lucky to have survived the attack. He said that the crocodile ‘was really in his [prime]...If it had bitten me somewhere else, it would have been different.’
'He could have got [my] arms or [my] guts...I was pretty crook there for a while,' he added.
The attack was a life-changing experience for Colin.
'I've been walking around that swamp country too long fixing fences and living life, but it's opened my eyes,' he said.
The crocodile that attacked Colin was already caught and ‘removed’.
‘He won’t be doing it again,’ he said.
Crocodiles can be quite sneaky troublemakers. In a similar story, one family learned a valuable lesson–the hard way. They were enjoying a swim at Wangi Falls in Darwin when they realised it was the same spot where a man was attacked by a saltwater crocodile! Read more about it here.
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such a lucky man.
reptiles.
