{"id":108423,"date":"2025-08-31T09:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T09:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/108423\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T09:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T09:06:10","slug":"crocodile-attack-survivor-todd-bairstow-recounts-terrifying-encounter-with-monster-reptile-in-queensland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/108423\/","title":{"rendered":"Crocodile attack survivor Todd Bairstow recounts terrifying encounter with monster reptile in Queensland"},"content":{"rendered":"

The survivor of a horror croc attack has revealed the details of his harrowing ordeal.<\/p>\n

Todd Bairstow had just arrived at his fishing spot, found a clearing and taken his lure off the rod when he was suddenly \u2014 and terrifyingly \u2014 being ripped apart in a death roll by a monster crocodile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got out of my car, I found a clearing there, put my beer on the ground, taken my lure off my rod and I\u2019ve taken about two steps and then \u2014 bang!\u201d he told SBS Insight<\/a> of his 2011 incredible tale of survival.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething\u2019s grabbed me on my left leg from behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy immediate thought was it felt like somebody jumped out to scare me or a mate to shock me but I\u2019ve looked down and it\u2019s an 11ft croc hanging off my leg.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HisCamera IconHis story captured the audience. Credit: SBS Insight<\/p>\n

Mr Bairstow, then 28, was fishing at Trunding Creek near Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland when the attack happened.<\/p>\n

In a fight for his life, he gouged at the predator\u2019s eyes, kicked it and even tried to pull its jaws apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crocodile\u2019s got me on my left leg and I\u2019ve thought to myself, \u2018I\u2019m in trouble here\u2019,\u201d he said on the show on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as soon as I thought that, it went slack and the big splash of water came up and this left leg is just dislocated.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done the death roll. This leg\u2019s popped out like a matchstick. I heard it go crack.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, Mr Bairstow said that he used his dog to try and get away.<\/p>\n

\u201cDig Dig was barking and carrying on … poor little bugger, I\u2019ve grabbed him and just started hitting the crocodile in the head with him … thinking he maybe might let go of me and take Dig Dig,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut nah, the crocodile\u2019s pulled again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Bairstow\u2019s right leg was then also dislocated and one of his fingers ripped off in another death roll.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I really thought, \u2018F**k, I\u2019m going to die here\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I started yelling out, \u2018Help! Croc! Help! Croc!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Raelene Motton had stepped out of the nearby Albatross Pub to have a cigarette and heard his cries. She alerted a friend, Kevin Beven.<\/p>\n

Knowing help was coming was the second wind Mr Bairstow needed.<\/p>\n

Running to help his mate, Mr Beven yelled: \u201cWhere\u2019s the croc?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Bairstow shouted back: \u201cIt\u2019s on my f***ing legs!\u201d<\/p>\n

Startled, the crocodile let go.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s pulled me and dragged me up the bank,\u201d Mr Bairstow said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grabbing him, I\u2019m hugging him. All my fingers are hitting in him in the face.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018Get that finger out of my f***ing face\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incredibly, amid the terrifying ordeal the two friends managed to have a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cKevin goes, \u2018He bit your fella off\u2019. Because all me pants were down. I look down, we started laughing, I\u2019m still there!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Bairstow was flown to Cairns Base Hospital for a series of operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The survivor of a horror croc attack has revealed the details of his harrowing ordeal. Todd Bairstow had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1313,64,63,1625,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-108423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-lifestyle","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}