Todd Bairstow Survives 40-Minute Struggle with Crocodile
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Todd Bairstow, a 28-year-old from Australia, survived a 40-minute struggle with a 13-foot crocodile after the animal attacked him while he was fishing, reports the Herald Sun.
The crocodile lunged at Bairnstow while he was alone on the bank of Trunding Creek in Weipa with his dog, Dig Dig. The creature first bit off Bairnstow's finger, and when the man slipped on some mud, it grabbed his legs.
Bairstow, a mine worker, reportedly punched and kicked the crocodile for nearly 40 minutes, poking its eyes and trying to pry its jaws open as he kept himself above water by clinging to nearby mangrove roots.
A friend soon heard Bairstow's cries for help and arrived on the scene, where he tried to pull the man back to shore. More friends came shortly thereafter, and the group scared the crocodile away by beating it with sticks.
Bairstow was then taken to the hospital, where doctors found that he was suffering from hand injuries, two broken legs, torn knee ligaments and extensive lacerations.
"Four metres is big, that is big enough to take down a human," Cathy Bairstow, Todd's mother, told the source. "That croc was trying to take him and eat him for dinner. He is so lucky."
According to the Wilderness Medical Society, approximately 2,000 people in the United States were killed during encounters with wild animals between 1991 and 2001, with an average of 177 deaths per year.
People who have survived being attacked by a wild animal may wish to contact the Trauma Resource Institute, an organization that provides people with resources they need to thrive in the wake of a traumatic experience.
The crocodile lunged at Bairnstow while he was alone on the bank of Trunding Creek in Weipa with his dog, Dig Dig. The creature first bit off Bairnstow's finger, and when the man slipped on some mud, it grabbed his legs.
Bairstow, a mine worker, reportedly punched and kicked the crocodile for nearly 40 minutes, poking its eyes and trying to pry its jaws open as he kept himself above water by clinging to nearby mangrove roots.
A friend soon heard Bairstow's cries for help and arrived on the scene, where he tried to pull the man back to shore. More friends came shortly thereafter, and the group scared the crocodile away by beating it with sticks.
Bairstow was then taken to the hospital, where doctors found that he was suffering from hand injuries, two broken legs, torn knee ligaments and extensive lacerations.
"Four metres is big, that is big enough to take down a human," Cathy Bairstow, Todd's mother, told the source. "That croc was trying to take him and eat him for dinner. He is so lucky."
According to the Wilderness Medical Society, approximately 2,000 people in the United States were killed during encounters with wild animals between 1991 and 2001, with an average of 177 deaths per year.
People who have survived being attacked by a wild animal may wish to contact the Trauma Resource Institute, an organization that provides people with resources they need to thrive in the wake of a traumatic experience.
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