A man was bitten on the face by a crocodile when he accidentally collided with the reptile after diving through a wave at a surf beach in northeastern Australia, a newspaper reported Friday. Camper Matt Martin, 35, received more than 40 sutures to gashes around his left eye and cheek after the mishap on Tuesday last week off the remote tropical northeast coast, The Cairns Post newspaper reported.
Martin said he was in waist-deep water when he dived through a wave and into the crocodile. "I thought I was dead," the construction worker from Newcastle in New South Wales state told the newspaper. "It was sort of like when you hit rocks but the rocks had give and movement in them," he added.
Martin, who is on a driving vacation across northern Australia, said his face was snapped before he hastily retreated to the beach.
Martin said the crocodile did not mean him serious harm. "He wasn't serious. He had all the cards and he played it soft," Martin said.
The report did not mention the size of the crocodile. Martin could not be immediately contacted Friday.
| I'm guessing he was either in church or getting drunk. Or maybe getting drunk in church. |