A man survived a crocodile attack after trying to hit the beast with his pet dog before being rescued by a friend who joked the killer reptile had bitten off his penis. Todd Bairdstow’s account of his miracle escape from the jaws of death has gone viral having been viewed nearly six million times on Facebook, with watchers exclaiming his story could not “be any more Aussie”.
Australian Todd, 43, was attacked as he was setting up to do some fishing by a river in Northern Queensland, Australia, a region which is home to 1,000s of monstrous saltwater crocodiles which can grow more than 19-feet-long. Todd, who was with his dog Dig Dig, had found a clearing and set his beers down by the water as he set up in the hope of catching some barramundi fish for his supper.
But in an instant the tranquility of the fishing trip was shattered as a crocodile launched from the water and grabbed Todd by his left leg from behind. When he looked down he found himself staring into the eyes of a 11-foot-long saltwater croc, or saltie as Australians call them. Saltwater crocodiles can easily attack and kill a human, and there have been a number of recent deadly incidents in Indonesia and Malaysia
Todd told an audience on the Australian TV show SBS Insight what happened next. “I’ve taken about two steps and then bang” he said, “Something has grabbed me on my left leg from behind, blindsided me, immediate thought was it felt like someone had jumped out to scare me or my mate shock me.
“I’ve looked down and there’s an 11-foot croc hanging off my leg.”
Todd was dragged into the river with water up to his chest and he grabbed onto a tree branch with both hands to try and hold on.
He added: “The crocodile’s got me on my left leg, and I’ve thought to myself ‘I’m in trouble here’, I thought I better get away. As soon as I thought that, it went slack and a big splash of water came up and this left leg is dislocated. He’s done a death roll.”
Crocodiles use what are known as ‘death rolls’, when they twist and spin prey they have latched onto, as a way to tear off pieces of meat.
Todd explained his left leg “popped out like a matchstick” and he heard it “go crack”. He continued: “My little dog Dig Dig he was there barking and carrying on… poor little bugger, I’ve grabbed him and I’ve just started hitting the crocodile on the head with him… thinking maybe he might let go of me and take Dig Dig.”
Luckily for Dig Dig, who was later rehomed, the crocodile was concentrating on Todd and by this time had hold of both of his legs.
Todd said he “ripped his finger off” hanging on to the branches. “All my fingers hanging down here, it looked like KFC chicken bones sticking out, and the crocodile has rolled again. That’s when I really thought, ‘f**k I’m going to die here’.”
Todd began calling for help and luckily a woman who was having a cigarette break outside a pub 300 metres away heard his cries and a local man rushed to his aid.
Todd said: “A bloke named Kevin Bevan, he was driving through the pub car park, he was looking for his dog funnily enough. And he’s come running through the bushes there, I’m holding on and all my pants are hanging down my legs and he’s like ‘Toddy’, we knew each other funnily enough, and I’m like ‘Kevvy’.
“The crocodile let go because we obviously startled him, and he’s (Kevin) pulled me up and he’s dragged me up the bank there. I’m grabbing him, I’m hugging him, all my finger is hitting him in the face and he’s like ‘get that finger out of my f**king face.
Laughing about this encounter, Todd recalled Kevin said “he’s bit your old fella off” joking that the reptile had consumed Todd’s manhood, which luckily it had not.
Despite being first aired in 2011, the interview has since gone viral in recent weeks with multiple viewers commenting on the uniquely Australian character of the tale.
One person noted: “Could this be any more Aussie? I’m glad he made it though, with his humour still intact.”
Another said: “This story is the epitome of Aussie humor, I went from horrified to laughing in seconds.”
Someone else quipped: “Love that after he saved you he still had time to scare you one more time by telling you he bit your old fella off.”
