Australian man survives crocodile attack by biting him

() – An Australian cattle farmer has managed to survive a crocodile attack after biting the giant predator on the eyelid.

Colin Deveraux told national broadcaster ABC he was working on the Finniss River in the Northern Territory when he stopped to look at a billabong – the Australian term for a pool that forms when a river runs low.

He could see some fish in the middle of the water and decided to try to catch some, until he realized there was something else there and turned around to leave.

“I took two steps and the dirty bastard (the crocodile) grabbed onto my right foot,” Deveraux told ABC.

“It was a strong grip… he shook me like a rag doll, threw himself into the water about three meters, and pulled me,” he said.

Deveraux told how he kicked the crocodile and then his head fell close to the crocodile’s head before it tried to bite him.

“I managed to bite it,” he said, but he couldn’t control the crocodile’s head.

Deveraux said his teeth slipped out and he was able to grab onto his eyelid, which he described as “pretty thick, like grabbing onto leather.”

“I pulled back with my teeth and after about a second, he let go,” Deveraux continued, then turned and ran away.

“I think he chased me for three or four meters… but then he stopped,” he said.

Deveraux recalled how he managed to stop the bleeding with a rope and then went to the hospital, where he was told he had tendon damage and “two large cuts almost the entire length of my foot.”

The doctors then cleaned all the mud and bacteria from the wound.

“They had to spend a long time, I think it was almost 10 days, cleaning it up,” Deveraux said. “It was difficult for a while.”

The wound was later treated with staples and a skin graft taken above the knee, Deveraux said, adding that he has recovered well.

“I can bend my toes, I can feel all my toes,” she said.

Deveraux said he had “no choice” but to fight back.

“It all happened, like I said, in about eight seconds,” he recalled. “If he had bitten me somewhere else, I think it would have been different.”

The saltwater crocodile was about 3.2 metres long, Deveraux added.

“He was really in his prime,” he said.

Deveraux told ABC the incident made him reconsider his behaviour and now believes he should not have gone so far into the billabong.

“I am a different man, I am going to change what I do,” he said.

ABC reported that Deveraux, who is in his 60s, will be discharged from Royal Darwin Hospital this week after being there for a month with the bite. Saltwater crocodiles, known locally as salties, can grow up to six metres long and weigh up to 1,000 kilograms, according to Australia Zoo.

According to federal government estimates, there are around 100,000 saltwater crocodiles in Australia.