KUCHING, Jan 21 — It might have been a scene, right out of an episode of the popular wildlife series, Animal Planet. Except that this incident was for real.
At the Semada River in Balai Ringin yesterday, a man battled for dear life with his bare hands when he was attacked by a six-metre long crocodile.
Mathias Winston would have become crocodile fodder — had it not been for his quick-thinking to use his thumbs to jab at the man-eater’s eyes.
The 37-year-old lorry driver was bathing at the river about 6.30pm when the crocodile suddenly emerged from the water and attacked him viciously, snapping its jaws shut on his left leg and right hand.
Winston thought he was a goner when the beast was trying to drag him into the depths of the river in the terrifying 10 minutes which ensued.
Luckily, his screams for help attracted the attention of his wife who was cooking at their Kampung Semada Belatok home, not far from the river.
Mira Dehim, also 37, rushed to her husband’s aid and grabbed his hand to pull him to safety, in the process, almost falling into the river as the reptile’s jaws held Winston in a vice-grip.
“Without hesitation, I grabbed my husband’s hand to pull him to safety...but I almost fell into the river as the crocodile was tugging at him.
“It was only when my husband used his thumbs to jab at the crocodile’s eyes, did the reptile let go of his leg and hand and disappear into the river,” she told Bernama today, when met at the Sarawak Hospital where Winston was warded. — Bernama
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