A man was bitten on the groin by a saltwater crocodile off the coast of the Northern Territory after he stepped on the reptile while wading through shallow water.
Elston Lami Lami was hunting through murky water near Minjilang on Croker Island at 12.30pm on Saturday when he stepped on what he thought was a submerged log.
The 42-year-old quickly realised what he was standing on – and the reptile stayed still beneath his foot.
After waiting for around 15 seconds, the crocodile aggressively flipped Mr Lami Lami and bit him on his upper right leg.
‘When he come up, when he flipped me and I looked at his eye, he had that crocodile tears on it. Like… you’re mine. You’re my lunch,’ Mr Lami Lami told the ABC.
He freed himself after kicking the animal with his other leg, before the crocodile attacked again, biting him on the groin.
Mr Lami Lami repeatedly punched the crocodile during his terrifying ordeal, before his barking dogs and a shouting relative managed to distract the crocodile so he could escape.
‘I hit him three times in the nose, he let me go. Come back again, try and attack me. When he snapped at me, I grabbed him, held him at the jaw with two hands and I was getting weak so I thought the only way to get his attention, I had to hit him again,’ he said.
Mr Lami Lami believes the saltwater crocodile was about 4.5metres long.
After the attack, Mr Lami Lami endured a half hour walk back to his car before he was treated at Minjilang Community Health Centre.
A CareFlight medical response group met Mr Lami Lami there before he was airlifted to Royal Darwin Hospital.
Mr Lami Lami remains in a stable condition in hospital.
Source: dailymail.co.uk