A Northern Territory man has fought a saltwater crocodile and lived to tell the tale in what can only be described as an extraordinarily lucky situation.
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42-year-old Elston Lami Lami was hunting in shallow waters of Minjilang in Arnhem Land over the weekend when he stepped on what he believed to be a log. But, as you’d expect, it was not a log. It was a ferocious saltwater crocodile, 9News reports.
“I actually climbed on and stood on top of the croc for 15 seconds,” Elston said. “My cousin then told me I was standing on top of its back, and in a split second he spun me around and knocked me over.”
The apex predator then began attacking the man, a fight that usually has lethal consequences for the human.
“He started flipping me and I hit the bank, then he attacked.”
Thankfully, Elston was a quick-thinker and began to fight back against the wild animal. After a few kicks to the nose, Elston managed to free himself from the deathly jaws of the croc.
“I pushed it and kicked it in the nose three times, and he let me go,” he said.
However, it’s not quite that easy to win a fight with an apex predator. The animal turned around and chased Elston back up the riverbank, managing to attack him for a second time.
“I kept on dragging myself up the bank, and all I saw was a big splash,” he said. “When he came up with his jaws open, I spread my left leg and he got me on the shorts.”
“I held the jaw with my right hand, and I hammered it with my left hand, so I hit it four times,” Elston described.
Elston eventually managed to escape after defeating the beast once again, but he was still dripping with blood in a riverbank with a monstrous crocodile just metres away. The saltwater crocodile was believed to be between 4.5 and 5 metres long.
He managed to run for his life with blood gushing from his leg wound, telling 9News that he was thinking of surviving for the sake of his children.
“If it wasn’t for my kids, I wouldn’t be alive right now.”
Elston Lami Lami is currently in a stable condition in hospital and is expected to make a full recover.
