Lee de Paauw is incredibly lucky to be alive after having a fight with a giant crocodile.
The 18-year-old Queenslander was partying at a backpacker hostel in the town of Innisfail, on Australia’s east coast.
After striking up a conversation with Brit Sophie Paterson, Lee bragged that backpackers were more likely to get eaten by crocodiles than Australians.
He decided to go one step further and prove it – accepting a dare from a group of revellers to jump into the nearby croc-infested river.
Somerset local Sophie, 24, told The Courier Mail: “He was walking about the local creek saying, ‘I can swim out’, and so we said, ‘go on then’, but we didn’t think he would do it.”
Lee’s bravado almost immediately backfired once he jumped into the treacherous waters.
Sophie said: “It all happened very fast. Pretty much as soon as he jumped in, there was splashing and screaming.
”There was blood everywhere and he just wouldn’t stop screaming.”
The crocodile chomped down on Lee’s arm, leaving him with serious injuries which needed surgery.
Speaking from his hospital bed in nearby Cairns, Lee said: “I punched it in the snout. My second hit, I got it straight in the eye, and then it let go.”
Remorseful of his actions, Lee said: “Stupidity. You know there’s crocs there.”
There was one silver lining after the horrific deal – Sophie has agreed to go on a date with him.
Sophie said: “”I think he’s very brave to be, you know, in such high spirits after what happened.”
The crocodile in question is well known to locals, believed to be about three metres long.
Despite Lee’s wishes, a trap has been set up to catch the monstrous reptile.
Lee said: “I don’t want that crocodile harmed. I want it to live a happy life.”
Last week an 18-year-old man was fatally attacked by a three-metre crocodile in Mexico.
