Sarawak fisherman escapes death grip of crocodile using eye-poking survival technique

Malay Mail

5 days ago

MIRI, July 14 — A 39-year-old man survived a vicious crocodile attack yesterday afternoon by poking the reptile in the eye at Loagan Tebabui, Kuala Tutoh, in Marudi.
The victim, identified as Dennis Karon, suffered a fracture to his right arm and multiple injuries to various parts of his body, including his head.
The Civil Defence Force (APM) said an emergency call regarding the incident was received at 4.38 pm.
An APM team was immediately dispatched to the scene and arrived at approximately 5.30 pm.
'The team arrived at the Kampung Benawa ferry wharf, where the victim was located,' APM said in a statement.
'He was later transported to Marudi Hospital for immediate treatment,' the statement continued.
When contacted, the victim's niece, Nurul Hidayah Raffelisia Abdullah, said Dennis, his elder brother, and another villager had used a boat to go fishing in Loagan Tebabui, located across from their village, at around 10 am.
'Before fishing, they stopped to rest and have a meal by the riverbank,' she said.
'Shortly after, they made their way back to the boat to begin casting the net,' she added.
'Just before they boarded the boat, they noticed bubbles nearby and assumed it was fish,' she recounted.
Nurul Hidayah said Dennis then cast his net in the direction of the bubbles, but it became snagged, prompting both him and his elder brother to jump into the water to free it.
'After a short while, his brother resurfaced, but Dennis did not appear for several minutes,' she stated.
'They panicked and quickly got into the boat, striking it to create noise,' she explained.
'Soon after, they saw Dennis emerge in the middle of the loagan (lake),' she confirmed.
She added that Dennis later recounted how he managed to escape the crocodile's grip by poking it in the eye.
'This isn't the first such incident here,' she noted.
'I believe there have been three crocodile attacks in the village so far, but all of them survived by poking the reptile in the eye,' she said.
Nurul Hidayah added that her uncle was transferred to Miri Hospital last night for further treatment. — The Borneo Post