March 12, 2011
SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian fisherman underwent surgery Friday for horrific injuries he suffered while fighting off a huge crocodile that tried to snatch him from a riverbank, the hospital said.
"He is undergoing his second surgery now... and he will be in for many, many weeks," said Tracie Sanim, spokeswoman for the Cairns Base Hospital where Todd Bairstow, 28, was rushed after escaping the animal's jaws.
"Crocodile attacks have a high infection rate... so his recovery will be dependent on how high the infection is," she told AFP.
Bairstow was fishing with his dog at a creek near the town of Weipa in northern Queensland on Wednesday when a four-metre (13-feet) saltwater crocodile lunged at him and tried to drag him under the water, police said.
During a terrifying ordeal, the plucky fisherman reportedly held onto mangrove tree roots as the giant reptile chomped on his legs and dragged him into a "death roll" that broke bones and tore his flesh.
The crocodile only retreated after Bairstow's friend heard his screams from the nearby pub and helped beat off the predator.
Bairstow suffered multiple puncture wounds and cuts to his legs as well as dislocated and fractured knees and a fractured and mauled finger as he tried to fight off the reptile, the hospital spokeswoman said.
He will require a series of operations to properly wash out the wounds which may have been infected by bacteria from the animal's teeth.
But despite his injuries, he is very lucky to be alive, Sanim said.
"There are always crocodiles attacks in Northern Australia, but to survive from a major crocodile attack is very unusual," she told AFP.
Bairstow, who is reportedly a mine worker from South Australia, thought his time had come when the beast launched out of his water and snapped at his finger, according to his mother Cathy Bairstow.
"He thought he was on a countdown to death," she told the Daily Telegraph of her son's 40-minute battle for survival.
"He jammed his hands into the croc's mouth and down its throat," she told the Daily Telegraph of her son's 40-minute battle for survival. "That croc was trying to take him and eat him for dinner."
