Ranger reveals how he escaped from the jaws of a huge saltwater crocodile that dragged him into the water and death-rolled him twice – ripping the flesh off his bones
- Craig Dickmann, 54, has miraculously survived a crocodile attack in Queensland
- The ranger was fishing at Captain Billy Landing when it came up behind him
- The reptile death rolled twice and ripped flesh off his hand, thigh and arm
- He managed to escape and is now in Cairns Hospital receiving treatment
A ranger has remarkably survived being attacked by a 2.8m crocodile after it ripped the flesh off his thigh, arm and hand.
Craig Dickmann, 54, was fishing alone at Captain Billy Landing, about 900km north of Cairns, at 4pm Sunday when a saltwater crocodile jumped towards him with bared teeth.
The creature tried to kill Mr Dickman by pulling him into the water and death rolling twice – which instead peeled the flesh off his bones
‘That noise will haunt me forever – the snap of its jaws – it was quicker than your mind can register,’ he told the Courier Mail.
Craig Dickmann, is recovering in Cairns Hospital after he was mauled by a 2.8m crocodile
‘These [crocs] are bulletproof, there’s no weakness.’
He persistently dug his fingers into its skull until it released him and he was able to pin the beast down.
He flung it away by it’s snout before escaping back to his car.
Mr Dickmann applied a pressure bandage to his gushing hand and drove over an hour back to the ranger station where he was able to call a colleague who provided medical assistance two hours after the first bite.
Mr Dickmann was driven 80km to an airstrip where he was picked up by the Royal Flying Doctor Service and flown to Cairns Hospital, where he is being treated.
He said the crocodile stripped his skin so close to the bone it revealed his limbs’ layers.
‘I remember looking at [my hand] later on and seeing how it looked like when you peel back the flesh, when they do those diagrams in anatomy textbooks,’ the Queenslander said.
Mr Dickmann (pictured with his wife) pose at Cape York, 200 km north of where he was attacked
He can still use his mauled hand and the bite narrowly missed the femoral artery in his thigh.
‘It could have been a lot, lot worse,’ he told 7News.
‘People keep telling me to buy a lotto ticket but I think I’ve used all those points up.’
The crocodile stalked him on dry land and was lurking quietly behind him before the attack.
Before he began fishing at the Jardine River National Park he had scoped the area for crocs.
Australia has two species of crocodiles, found in either salt water or fresh water.
Of the two, salt water crocodiles are far more dangerous to humans.
Since 2005, there have been 17 attacks with seven of which resulted in death.
Salt water crocodiles are more dangerous to humans than fresh water crocodiles (stock image)