The 44-year-old Queensland man fought on Thursday while swimming in Lake Placid, near Cairns.
He had stab wounds on both sides of his face, but was “very, very calm” when health workers came to treat him.
“A crocodile had bit his head, and in his attempt to remove the crocodile’s jaws, he reached into it to try to keep the jaws apart,” paramedic Paul Sweeney told reporters in Cairns. As he tried to remove his hands, the jaws snapped on his index finger. He is a remarkably happy gentleman. ‘
“Just a few inches lower and we have great blood vessels … if one had been pierced it would have been a whole different story,” Sweeney said.
He added that the unnamed man estimated that the saltwater crocodile was between five and six feet long.
Sweeney said the man had been swimming in that area three times a week for eight years. “Certainly not a place where I would choose to swim,” said Sweeney, describing him as a “very fit person”. and to say “his vital signs were remarkably calm when you consider the ordeal he had passed.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he ventured back into those waters for further exercise,” added Sweeney.
The Queensland Environment Department sent a team to the site and said a “search for the crocodile responsible for the attack” is now underway.
“Once rangers are on site, any crocodile found will be targeted for removal,” they said.
Crocodile attacks in Australia are rare, but Queensland officials are running a public safety campaign to warn residents of the risks of swimming or relaxing near crocodile-infested waters.