Cattle producer Colin Deveraux bit 3.2m crocodile on the eyelid after it attacked him in a swamp

Cattle producer Colin Deveraux had an extremely lucky escape when a 3.2m crocodile attacked him. What happened next saved his life.

A cattle farmer has revealed how he survived a full on attack from a hungry 3.2 metre saltwater crocodile.

Colin Deveraux was out fixing fences last month near the Finniss River, in the Northern Territory, when he stopped to look at fish in a billabong.

All of a sudden he felt the crocodile latch onto his right foot, the ABC reported.

“It was a big grab and he shook me like a rag doll and took off back into the water, pulling me in,” Mr Deveraux said.

The farmer, who is in his 60s, tried kicking the animal and then biting it.

A crocodile swimming with open jaws (Photo by DEA / G.SIOEN/De Agostini via Getty Images)

“I was in such an awkward position … but by accident my teeth caught his eyelid,” he said.

“It was pretty thick, like holding onto leather, but I jerked back on his eyelid and he let go.

“I leapt away and took off with great steps up to where my car was.

“He chased me for a bit, maybe four metres, but then stopped.”

Mr Deveraux wrapped his leg in a towel before his brother drove him 130 km to the Royal Darwin Hospital where he has been ever since.

“Biggest problem was having to clear out all the bad bacteria [from the wound] ... so all of the billabong water full of mud, goose s**t, duck s**t, and crocodile teeth marks,” he said.

“It [my foot and leg] was opened up bad and over 10 days in a row, I think, they had to flush it.”

Doctors are hopeful Mr Deveraux will be able to walk out of hospital this week after he received a skin graft.

“It all happened in about eight seconds I reckon,” he said.

“If he [the crocodile] had bitten me somewhere else it would have been different.

“It means I’ve got to change what I do. I’ve been walking around that swamp country too long fixing fences and living life, but it’s opened my eyes.”

Mr Deveraux added the crocodile was not a risk to anyone else as it had been “removed”.

Originally published as Cattle producer Colin Deveraux bit 3.2m crocodile on the eyelid after it attacked him in a swamp