Drunken dip led to 40 stitches 'He managed to scramble out of the water but instead of seeking immediate medical help, decided to sleep off his drinking binge.'
Classic.
Posted on 10/23/2007 3:51:06 PM PDT by BGHater
An Australian who went for a drunken dip in the sea got more than he bargained for when he dived into the jaws of a large crocodile.
Matt Martin was camping alone near a beach in northern Queensland when he decided to go for a dusk swim, despite having drunk what he later admitted was "half a slab", or 12 cans of beer.
When the 35-year-old construction worker dived into a wave, he butted heads with a submerged saltwater crocodile.
"I thought I was dead. It was sort of like when you hit rocks but the rocks had give and movement in them," he told The Cairns Post.
"The next moment, I’m standing up and something in my head was screaming 'it's a croc' and I just started to back-pedal."
The giant reptile, apparently as surprised as he was by the encounter, lashed out with its formidable jaws, inflicting deep gashes to Mr Martin's face.
He managed to scramble out of the water but instead of seeking immediate medical help, decided to sleep off his drinking binge.
Rested after a night’s sleep, he then drove himself to hospital in the town of Mossman but had to hold a blanket to staunch the bleeding to his face, which was "pretty messed up".
"I had to drive with my left hand on my face and my right hand changing gears," he said. The deep cuts to his face required more than 40 stitches.
He believed the crocodile could have done far greater damage had it wanted to. "[It was] a backhander…a bit of 'you're in my territory'. He wasn’t serious, he had all the cards and he played it soft."
The bizarre encounter happened at Cow Bay, on the wild and rugged Cape York peninsula — a region famed for its burgeoning population of 'salties’.
Despite their name the species lives in salt and freshwater, lurking in rivers and estuaries and ranging far out to sea.
Dr Mark Read, a crocodile expert from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, said Mr Martin, from Newcastle in New South Wales, was a "damn lucky fella" to have survived the encounter.
"The crocodiles essentially use the coastal strip as their 'crocodile highway' to get from one location to another," Dr Read said.
"If you compound that by introducing alcohol to take away people's normal good commonsense, and also get people swimming at night-time, which is the perfect time for crocodiles being out looking for prey, that really increases exposure to risk."
"If it had been a really big animal that turned around and did the same thing we’d be looking at an entirely different outcome."
The attack happened last week but only came to light today. Mr Martin has since continued on his travels to Darwin in the Northern Territory — another crocodile hotspot.
Drunken dip led to 40 stitches 'He managed to scramble out of the water but instead of seeking immediate medical help, decided to sleep off his drinking binge.'
Classic.
Lucky man!
The Good Lord looks after drunkards, children, and fools. He qualifies for at least two . . . .
Love the "half a slab" reference. I guess it's as in "mortuary slab".
Did you notice his next stop was a place called DARWIN?!?
He's a law abiding bloke, he didn't want to drive drunk. lol
to send all the Democrats to this beach along with several hundred cases of beer and liquor. Yes, I know the booze would be wasted... 
but think of the higher calling!
CRICKEY!!
Queensland is a dangerous place. Even the freakin’ frogs are poisonous.
I’ve never heard of a seagoing croc. That’s extra-special. They have blue-ringed octopus, Cone shells, sea snakes, and other massively super-octane poisonous things.
The funnel web spider is a fun loving little creature, as is that snake that likes to hide in the beach grass they’ve got over there.
Everything, including the TREES, are poisonous or just plain mean - except the people. They are lovely.
.
“Now THAT’s a Knife”...
.
I think a “slab” is a 24-can case on a flat cardboard box ... just a visual reference. We buy multiple slabs of generic diet cola at Wal-mart :-).
DARWIN!
LOL!
I like how the guy decided to “sleep of his drinking then go seek medical attention in the morning when he sobered up”
Wimp, he should have sewn that up himself, on the road, while writign a book with his other hand!
It’s a wonder the crock didn’t decide to eat him while he was sleeping off the drunk.
Loothesom: [...] Well, the way things are going here at Lughtborrow, it looks as though Britan could easily pick up a place in the first seven hundred. But nothing's predictable in this tough, harsh, highly competitive world where today's champion is tomorrow's crocodile sh*t. And back to you, in the studio, Norman.
A new reality show?
Don’t drink and swim ping!
Isn’t it the truth? There are also many more women to men there. An outfall of the losses they sustained in WWII.
Been to Perth and Freemantle back in ‘94. STILL trying to catch my breath.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.