Miraculous save after terrifying croc attack

A MAN who muscled his mate from the jaws of a 3m croc 1km off the Lockhart River coast has been heralded a hero by a senior-ranking ambulance officer.

The men, aged 20 and 32, are recovering in Cairns Hospital after both were mauled in a terrifying ordeal while swimming on Friday afternoon.

The first man to be attacked, the younger man, suffered critical injuries to his upper body, head and arms.

The Queensland Ambulance Service received an emergency call at 4.15pm and dispatched a helicopter from Horn Island in the Torres Strait.

The two attack victims, both bleeding heavily, were assisted by an army medic while waiting 90 minutes for the helicopter to arrive.

QAS senior operations supervisor Denis O’Sullivan said the area was isolated and had poor mobile phone service. “It’s a very remote location with limited roads and communications. I don’t believe there’s any mobile network in the area,” he said. “There was an army medic on a boat nearby who gave vital first-aid and applied a tourniquet to the young man … who had significant bleeding.”

Transferred to the Lockhart

River airstrip, the men endured a 40-minute wait on the tarmac before boarding a Royal Flying Doctor Service plane for a 1.5-hour flight to Cairns. “It’s a long time,” the QAS supervisor said. “It was lucky that the haemorrhage was stopped early. (The older man) is very much a hero.

“Without his assistance, this could have been a fatality. Definitely, he’s done a very good job and (is) very brave.”