A father fought off a three-metre crocodile to save his two daughters after the reptile launched an attack as they swam in Australia.
Eddie Sigai, nicknamed ‘Crocky Balboa’ by his friends, punched and gouged the saltwater croc after the powerful animal grabbed hold of his hand.
The 37-year-old, from Weipa, Queensland, was swimming with his daughters Jennifer, 17, and Monica, 12, at a creek last week when the crocodile caught hold of his left hand and dragged him underwater. Mr Sigai said, ‘I thought to myself, “this is it…I’m dead”, but it’s surprising what you can do when all you can think about is the safety of your children. ‘It grabbed my hand and pulled me underwater so I was sitting and all I can remember is grabbing it, shaking it, punching it and going for its eyes.’
The young family had been swimming at a local waterhole for around three
hours before the attack last Saturday. Jennifer said she felt ‘something big’ brush past her in the water and put her hands on what she believed was the crocodile’s back. Monica said she felt the beast’s tail swipe her back as it went for her father. She said, ‘I felt helpless and completely terrified.’ Mr Sigai, who has been swimming in the creek since he was a child, said he remembered watching a documentary about another man who survived a crocodile attack by gouging its eyes. He said he was aware of the dangers of crocodiles in water, but the lure of a warm, muggy day drew his family to the creek. After the attack, which ‘felt like it lasted forever’, Mr Sigai said he screamed to his daughters to get out of the water.
He was unable to drive, so Jennifer climbed behind the wheel and drove her bleeding father to Weipa Hospital in second gear. He spent two days in hospital with bite marks on his left hand and deep scratch marks down his back.
by Milo Johnson
