Woman, 60 tackles croc to rescue man from its jaws

A 60-year-old woman jumped onto the back of a 14 foot crocodile, tackling it to free a man trapped in its jaws.

The huge reptile grabbed the 34-year-old man as he slept in a tent with his wife at a remote Camp Melville beach campsite in northern Queensland, said Ben Mitchell from the Australian Search and Rescue (AusSAR) Coordination Centre.

The saltwater crocodile entered the tent early in the morning and dragged the man outside, Mitchell said yesterday.

The woman “was also camping there, and she saw what was happening and she jumped on the croc,” said Stephen Pemberthy of the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

The crocodile let the man go and turned on the woman, pulling her toward the water before a third person shot it dead.

The man and woman were flown to Queensland’s Cairns Base Hospital where they were in a serious but stable condition, Mitchell said.

The woman was treated for a broken arm, cuts and bruises. The man’s injuries included a broken arm and leg.

Wildlife authorities were investigating whether fishermen dumping bait in the area had attracted the crocodile to the area of Monday’s attack.