36-year-old man survives deadly crocodile attack in East Guadalcanal, slowly recovers from serious wounds at NRH
A MAN who miraculously survived a deadly attack by a 12-feet crocodile at Tavagaua River in East Guadalcanal is slowly recovering at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) from serious wounds sustained during the horrific encounter.
The incident occurred at 3pm on Tuesday last week when the survivor 36-year-old George Wale from Longu village and his wife attempted to cross the Tavagaua River on their return from a nearby village.
Wale managed to escape after a 10-minute struggle with the croc underwater.
“The river is too deep so I told my wife to wait while I swim across to the other side to get a canoe. When I reached the middle of the river, a crocodile suddenly attacked me from beneath the water surface. It grabbed my legs and body and pushed me down until I reached the bottom of the river.”
“After being underwater with the crocodile for 10 minutes, with its teeth gripped on to me. I was in immense pain and nearly gave up my breath but I was determined to live and fought on for my survival.
“I almost ran out of breath and almost drowned but something clicked on my mind that I should push my right hand into the crocs mouth right down to its throat. I did not have time on my side and it was my last chance to survive so I followed my instinct.
“Since my right hand was free, I pushed it between the croc’s two sharp teeth down towards its throat and got hold of it and pressed as hard as I could and the croc opened its mouth, releasing me from its jaws and teeth and then it escaped,” Mr Wale said.
Mr Wale, who was left with serious injuries by the croc and lost a lot of blood as a result, was rushed to the Aola Hospital and from there, he was transported to the NRH for treatment.
Dr Mahlon Vae from NRH confirmed that Mr Wale is slowly recovering after almost week of medical treatment.
By JIMMY NOLAN
Solomon Star Honiara
