Posted on 11/22/2003 5:58:05 PM PST by Jemian
AN AUSTRALIAN teenager narrowly escaped death when a crocodile locked 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 yesterday.
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 Jaya Pura in north Irian Jaya when the reptile attacked, his father, David, said.
"He saw this black thing come up in the water and grab his arm and surfboard at the same time," said Mr Goodall yesterday. "It clamped its jaws shut.
"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 realised his arm was free and took off as quickly as he could."
Once crocodiles seize their prey they roll over and over, disorienting the victim until it drowns or bleeds to death.
Mr Goodall said his son had some teeth marks in his arms and his board was "all champed up". The boy's friends said they thought the animal was about 11ft long. "We're very thankful he's still alive," said Mr Goodall. "We saw the size of the teeth and realised it wasn't a freshwater crocodile, it was a big saltwater crocodile."
Mr Goodall added that villagers have told him the animal involved is believed to have killed five people. "That makes us realise even more how lucky we are," he said.
This happened one week ago. Today, Matt is regaining movement in his hand and arm and his bites are now covered by mere band-aids.
Matt is a very lucky young man, indeed. I am so glad that he is gaining movement in his hand. I pray for a complete recovery for him.
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