"She made a joke about losing her watch, she said the alarm was set for five o'clock if you want to go after that crocodile," Mr Turner said.Shades of Peter Pan ...
Posted on 04/06/2004 6:24:55 AM PDT by dead
When a three-metre crocodile latched on to the arm of an 11-year-old girl swimming behind his boat, skipper Ray Turner leapt into action.
The former crocodile hunter dived from the boat, landed on the back of the reptile and gouged one of its eyes until it freed the girl. Hannah Thompson was swimming with other children at Margaret Bay near the top of Cape York Peninsula yesterday when the crocodile attacked.
Mr Turner heard screams and a shout of "crocodile" and in no time was hurtling through the air towards the water.
"I was pitching myself off the boat and I could see the black shadow in the water. He came out when I was already launched and I landed right on him," he said today.
"I landed fair on its back and I got a finger in its left eye, I missed the right eye, but he got a fright and he let go," said the 57-year-old, who hunted crocs in Papua New Guinea more than 30 years ago.
He estimated the croc to be around 3.3 metres long. "They will always let go when you go for an eye because it's their vulnerable point and their livelihood."
When Hannah was safely aboard with deep puncture wounds in her lower arm, Mr Turner took the excursion party back to Haggerstone Island, where he runs the guesthouse with his wife Anna.
An airlift was arranged to the Thursday Island Hospital where Hannah was today reported to be in a stable condition.
A young boy on the boat received light scratch marks from the croc during the confusion.
Mr Turner said it was highly unusual for a crocodile to come into such shallow water in daylight with so many people about.
"It was lucky it wasn't a smaller child further out from the boat."
He said Hannah was incredibly brave and appeared to have held her own with the croc while it had her arm.
"She made a joke about losing her watch, she said the alarm was set for five o'clock if you want to go after that crocodile," Mr Turner said.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service crocodile management unit leader Mark Read said wildlife officers would travel to the bay tomorrow to try to find and shoot the crocodile.
The animal continued to circle the boat after the incident.
Mr Read said the next most recent attack in Queensland was in September 2001 when a young girl was bitten on the arm by a small crocodile.
The last fatal crocodile attack in Queensland occurred in 1993, he said.
AAP
That cracked me up.
Good day for Aussies on FR!
Dan
Yes, and why didn't they shoot it right after the attack?
I assume there was no agent of the government in the vicinity, and if you are not an agent of the government, you are not allowed to possess a gun in Australia.
"She made a joke about losing her watch, she said the alarm was set for five o'clock if you want to go after that crocodile," Mr Turner said.Shades of Peter Pan ...
They might just barely fit under the seat in front of him. The flight crew should be notified, however, since they will, of course, have to redo their weight and balance calculations.
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