Daring or dumb? Australian teen jumped into a river – and was immediately attacked by a crocodile
Crocodiles have been a protected species in Australia since the 1970s, which has led to an explosion in their population across the country’s tropical north
An Australian teen who was attacked by a crocodile after jumping into a crocodile-infested river on a dare was recovering from serious wounds to his arm, officials said on Monday, as authorities recovered the body of another man who also may have been attacked by a crocodile in nearby waters.
Lee de Paauw, an 18-year-old from Queensland state, was at a hostel in the northern Queensland town of Innisfail around 2.30am on Sunday when he started bragging that he could swim in the river, a known habitat for aggressive saltwater crocodiles, said Sophie Paterson, a British backpacker who was at the hostel.
She and several others egged him on, though none of them thought he’d actually get in the water, Paterson said. But get in the water he did. Seconds later, a crocodile latched onto him.
“It all happened very fast. Pretty much as soon as he jumped in, there was splashing and screaming,” Paterson told Queensland’s Courier-Mail newspaper. “There was blood everywhere and he just wouldn’t stop screaming.”
It all happened very fast ... There was blood everywhere and he just wouldn’t stop screaming
De Paauw managed to pull himself out of the water. Queensland paramedic Neil Noble said the teen suffered extensive injuries to his arm, and was lucky to escape from the crocodile before the animal drowned him.