Savaged Lee gets brush-off
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A LOVELORN teenager almost lost an arm after being savaged by a crocodile as he tried to impress a Brit backpacker.
Australian Lee De Paauw was lucky to escape alive when the 10ft monster tried to drag him under and drown him in a “death roll”.
He only managed to scramble to safety after punching the startled croc on the nose and then hard in the eye.
But 18-year-old Lee suffered another blow when sexy blonde Sophie Paterson, 24, who had dared him to jump into the water, remained unimpressed by his bravado...and spurned his advances.
As he recovered from his ordeal last night, Lee admitted he was still smitten and was willing to prove his love again.
He said: “Sophie is beautiful, caring and kind. I did not know there was a crocodile there. I just done it for her.”
The pair had been drinking at 2.30am when Sophie dared him to dive into the Johnstone River, Innisfail, North Queensland. But within seconds Lee, who lives nearby, was attacked by a saltwater crocodile lurking in the creek.
He said: “It grabbed my arm and started rolling me. I hit it on the nose and it loosened its grip. Then I punched it right in the eye and it dropped me.” Doctors managed to save his arm. Shocked Sophie, from Yeovil, Som, said: “I thought he’d lost his arm. He’s too young for me. Being attacked by animals doesn’t really do it for me.”