Aussie survives croc attack

Aussie survives croc attack

Associated Press, Canberra

An Australian teenager narrowly escaped death when a large saltwater crocodile clamped his arm and surfboard in its jaws and attempted a death roll in a murky creek in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, his father said on Wednesday.

Matthew Goodall, the son of Australian missionaries, had paddled his surfboard halfway across a creek on the way to a beach with friends on Saturday near the town of Jayapura in north Irian Jaya when the reptile attacked, father David Goodall said.

"He saw this black thing come up in the water and grab his arm and surfboard at the same time," Goodall told Australian media by phone from Irian Jaya on Wednesday. "It clamped its jaws shut."

Matthew's friends said they thought the animal was about 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) long.

"As soon as the thing grabbed him it started twisting him, and he ended up on top of the crocodile for a while, with the croc beneath his legs, then he realized his arm was free and took off as quickly as he could," said Goodall.

Once crocodiles seize their prey they roll over and over, disorienting the prey until it drowns or dies of blood loss, the so-called death roll.

Goodall said Matthew had some teeth marks in his arms and his board was "all champed up."

"We're very thankful he's still alive ... we saw the size of the teeth and realized it wasn't a freshwater crocodile, it was a big saltwater crocodile," he said.

Goodall said villagers have since told him the crocodile that attacked Matthew is believed to have killed five people.

"That makes us realize even more how lucky we are," he said.