Man Attacked by Crocodile Had to Wade Through Rapids to Escape

A fisherman who was attacked by a saltwater crocodile in Australia had to wade through rapids to reach safety.

Kyle Hutchinson was fishing with two friends Saturday afternoon on the lower Ord River in the state of Western Australia when the reptile, estimated at about 6.5 to 8 feet long, bit him.

The incident occurred as Hutchinson, a child protection worker from the town of Kununurra, was walking through some rapids, he told radio station 6PR. "I sort of stepped into a puddle that was a bit murky and I didn't see into it too well, and there was a 2, 2½-meter crocodile hiding in it, which just jumped out, had a bite of my knee and took off," he said.

Saltwater crocodiles are the largest crocodile species, with males capable of reaching lengths of more than 20 feet. This apex predator, which is usually found in saline and brackish water environments, was once threatened in Australia as a result of unregulated hunting. But the reptiles are now thriving, with the population in the country estimated to number more than 200,000 adults, figures from the Northern Territory government show.

Crocodile attacks can be extremely dangerous to people and pets, although fatalities in Australia from such incidents are very rare.

Hutchinson said he suffered a deep wound to his leg after the crocodile bit him, although he did not immediately feel the pain because of the adrenaline. "I didn't feel it for about half an hour because my heart rate was racing so quick," he said.

After biting the man, the saltwater crocodile dove back underwater and took off, but Hutchinson and his friends did not know if it was going to come back and were forced to cross the rapids again to reach safety.

"We got ourselves a big stick and made our way back to the car—we had to cross a few more little bits of water, but we made it to hospital," he said.

Shortly before the group arrived at the hospital, Hutchinson said he began to feel the pain in his leg, which he described as like "being stabbed in the knee."

Medical staff at the hospital cleaned and bandaged the wound, which was not life-threatening. Hutchinson was released that day and even made it to a pub later for a beer to celebrate his survival.

"Had to be done," he said. "I don't think too many had met someone who had a croc bite, then been to the pub after."

Hutchinson said that he is grateful for his luck and that the incident "could have been worse."

"[It was] a decent result in the scheme of things," he said. "I was very lucky—if it was a big one, I could have had no leg or no heartbeat right about now."

He said he had never seen any crocodiles in the area before, and a friend who had been fishing there numerous times had reassured him that he had rarely seen the reptiles in that spot.

"So I can blame him for this one," Hutchinson said.

The incident has not scared him off from going fishing, although he will be more careful next time. "I'll probably check every puddle before I blindly walk into it," he said.