A fishing guide is lucky to be alive after he was pulled from a boat by a saltwater crocodile, as the 14-year-old boy who saved his life detailed the ordeal to The Project’s stunned hosts.
Sydney resident Misha Hammond and his sons Oliver, 18, and Isaac, 14, joined Northern Territory fishing guide Sean Fiumara for a sport fishing excursion in Top End last week.
They departed from Dhipirri Barra and Sportfishing Lodge in Arnhem Land, southwest of the Crocodile Islands archipelago.
The group toured some of the area’s most famous fishing spots and spent most of the day fishing without sighting a single crocodile.
But, as Fiumara stood on the side of the boat showing the teenagers where to cast, a 3.5-metre crocodile jumped out of the water and dragged the fishing guide away.
“It was a shock when it first fell. I jumped and didn’t know what was happening, but I knew when I saw the big crocodile in the water,” Issac said. The project on Tuesday night.
The intrepid teenager grabbed Mr. Fiumara as the guide tried to free himself from the salty’s jaws.
A keen young fisherman has been hailed a hero after pulling his fishing guide from the jaws of a saltwater crocodile.
Isaac Hammond, 14, was on a fishing trip with his older brother and father when a crocodile ripped his guide from his boat.
“I grabbed him when he was in the water and pulled him out, then Dad helped me get him into the boat,” he said.
Shocked Project host Waleed Aly asked: “So Isaac, you’ve put him back on the boat, what is the crocodile doing right now?”
“(He was) in the back of the boat, following us and trying to have another go at Sean,” the teen responded.
Aly then asked him what he did next, adding that it couldn’t have been fun being chased by a crocodile.
“No, it wasn’t,” Issac said.
“Sean had to get up and splash in the water, like sticking his hand in the water, to try to get the crocodile to come closer and then hit it with a big stick.”
Co-host Sam Taunton praised Issac for being the most “calm” young man given the circumstances.
‘What were you thinking, so that you know at the moment you had to bend down to save him, what was going through your head when you put your hand to do-, how am I not going to put my hand-? I won’t put my hand anywhere now that I think about it,” Taunton joked.
‘But you approached a crocodile to try to save it, what were you thinking?’ he asked in disbelief.
“Um, I wasn’t really thinking,” said the laid-back Sydney boy,
“I just wanted to get it out.”
Isaac agreed that the close encounter with the crocodile was not for the faint-hearted.
“It was intimidating,” he said.
“Yes, he was very aggressive and stayed around the boat until we had to leave.”
He said Mr Fiumara’s injuries were “quite serious” after the incident.
“He had several punctures in his leg and he used his hand to open the crocodile’s jaw,” he added.
“So it was in a bit of a state.”
Taunton asked him if he would ever fish in Arnhem Land again.
“We’ll go there in April,” Isaac joked.
Sean Fiumara thanked the quick thinking of the young man, who was airlifted to a hospital in Darwin to recover from the attack.
Mr Fiumara’s colleague at the sport fishing lodge, Greg Campbell, had previously said Radio ABC Darwin which took the guide by boat 30 kilometers to the nearest medical clinic.
The pair jumped over rough waters in “horrible” weather to Milingimbi Island, from there Mr Fiumara was flown to Darwin.
“He’s glad we took him to the clinic because originally he didn’t want to go, he thought he’d be fine,” Campbell said.
“A big crocodile doesn’t hit you like that underwater and unfortunately you come out unscathed, but he’s alive to tell the tale and that’s the main thing.”
Mr. Fiumara’s injuries included five puncture wounds to his right knee and damage to his anterior cruciate ligament and hand.
He said he owed his life to Isaac.
“Once under the water, I realized what had happened, the bastard caught me,” Fiumara said, according to the alphabet.
“I could see him holding on to my leg… I put my left hand on his lower jaw and my right hand on his upper jaw, and I managed to free my leg and kick him in the side of the head.”
He warned other fishermen to remember that crocodiles can and will jump if they see an opportunity to feed.
