The young man, Lee De Paauw, was featured in a news segment once the story broke and his explanation for why he decided to jump into a known crocodile-infested area was absolutely absurd. He was with a female British tourist and was trying to impress her by saying that he was less susceptible to an attack from one of the dangerous reptiles than she is because of his Australian heritage.
“I started telling about how backpackers are more likely to get eaten by a crocodile than Australians,” he said. “So we decided to go down to the river and test the theory.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
As it turns out, the man’s “theory” was tragically flawed as a crocodile chomped down on his arm only moments after he jumped into the Johnstone River near Innisfail. De Paauw and the nearly 8-foot-long crocodile thrashed about in the water, and the man first punched the reptile on its nose.
De Paauw, revealed the first thought going through his mind once the crocodile latched onto his arm.
“I was thinking, ‘F*ck, I’m gone for sure,’” he said.
Fortunately, De Paauw had enough presence of mind to gauge the crocodile in the eye right before it planned on dragged him under the surface. Miraculously, the croc then released the man and he was able to escape.
“Swam back to the stairs with one floppy arm and pulled myself up,” De Paauw said.
Sophie Paterson, the female British tourist who was watching this shocking scene unfold, described the horror of seeing De Paauw nearly killed.
“I just carried him walking with him so that he wasn’t on his own,” Paterson said. “And that was when he kind of said that ‘I’m gonna do this.’ And I was just in complete and utter disbelief.”
She continued by saying: “I’ve never heard a guy scream like that. You know, he was obviously terrified and he was obviously in agony. It was just sheer panic.”
Prior to taking the nearly fatal plunge in the river, De Paauw said that he had been consuming alcohol. He told the reporter that he downed “about 10 cups of goon” before this shocking incident went down.
De Paauw then opened up about the damage done by the crocodile as he sat on a hospital bed.
“Both the bones in my left arm are broken, they’re poking out of the skin,” he said. “Two gauge marks on the top and the bottom.”
Watch the interview with Lee De Paauw and Sophie Paterson above.
Would you fight an alligator to impress a potential significant other?
Up Next:
