Aussie survives croc attack<\/p>\n
Associated Press, Canberra<\/p>\n
An Australian teenager narrowly escaped death when a large
\nsaltwater crocodile clamped his arm and surfboard in its jaws and
\nattempted a death roll in a murky creek in the Indonesian
\nprovince of Irian Jaya, his father said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Matthew Goodall, the son of Australian missionaries, had
\npaddled his surfboard halfway across a creek on the way to a
\nbeach with friends on Saturday near the town of Jayapura in north
\nIrian Jaya when the reptile attacked, father David Goodall said.<\/p>\n
\"He saw this black thing come up in the water and grab his arm
\nand surfboard at the same time,\" Goodall told Australian media by
\nphone from Irian Jaya on Wednesday. \"It clamped its jaws shut.\"<\/p>\n
Matthew's friends said they thought the animal was about 3.5
\nmeters (11.5 feet) long.<\/p>\n
\"As soon as the thing grabbed him it started twisting him, and
\nhe ended up on top of the crocodile for a while, with the croc
\nbeneath his legs, then he realized his arm was free and took off
\nas quickly as he could,\" said Goodall.<\/p>\n
Once crocodiles seize their prey they roll over and over,
\ndisorienting the prey until it drowns or dies of blood loss, the
\nso-called death roll.<\/p>\n
Goodall said Matthew had some teeth marks in his arms and his
\nboard was \"all champed up.\"<\/p>\n
\"We're very thankful he's still alive ... we saw the size of
\nthe teeth and realized it wasn't a freshwater crocodile, it was a
\nbig saltwater crocodile,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Goodall said villagers have since told him the crocodile that
\nattacked Matthew is believed to have killed five people.<\/p>\n
\"That makes us realize even more how lucky we are,\" he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aussie-survives-croc-attack-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }