Gidday
“A TOURIST is lucky to be alive after he was attacked by a crocodile after taking a dip in a croc-infested
billabong in
Kakadu National Park yesterday.
The 57-year-old man suffered bone-deep puncture wounds to his right arm.
He had been
camping by the
waterhole and ignored the
park's crocodile warning signs erected in the area.
The man, who is travelling through the NT from Western Australia, told police his lucky story of survival and how the croc latched on to his arm when he put it out in front of him in an attempt to protect himself.
Police said campers on the other side of the bank jumped in a boat and went out and dragged the man to safety.
His rescuers took him to his nearby
campsite and provided medical treatment.
The attack happened at the
bush campsite at Bucket
Billabong off the Arnhem Highway near
Jabiru, about 250km southeast of
Darwin, at about 10.30am.
The victim is understood to have driven himself to the
Jabiru Health Clinic to receive further treatment about noon and was discharged about three hours later.
A man who did not see the attack but spoke to the tourist afterwards told the Northern Territory News the man had deep puncture wounds through his right arm and elbow.
"He was pretty bloody lucky," he said.
"(The croc) would have had a good grip - I would have been sh-----g myself.
"It was more than a nip, it was a significant bite.
"He had a number of puncture marks."
Territory Police Duty Superintendent John Emeny said the man is lucky to have survived to tell his story.
"He's a silly boy, because the area is signposted and infested with crocs," he said.
The attack comes just three days after our story Don't say you weren't warned told of large crocs in an area where fishos have been photographed wading”.
Regards
Kim