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| Man escapes 'head-seizing' crocodile in northern Australia | Man escapes 'head-seizing' crocodile in northern Australia |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A French man has managed to escape a saltwater crocodile that latched on to his head as he swam in Australia's Northern Territory. | A French man has managed to escape a saltwater crocodile that latched on to his head as he swam in Australia's Northern Territory. |
| Yoann Galeran, 29, said he was "very lucky" to have survived the attack. | Yoann Galeran, 29, said he was "very lucky" to have survived the attack. |
| He was swimming from shore in the remote town of Nhulunbuy to retrieve a dinghy when the crocodile - estimated to be 2.5m (8ft) in length - attacked him on Sunday. | |
| He needed stitches for bite wounds on his head, neck and shoulders. | He needed stitches for bite wounds on his head, neck and shoulders. |
| Mr Galeran, a deckhand, said he kept punching the crocodile as it tried to roll and drown him. | Mr Galeran, a deckhand, said he kept punching the crocodile as it tried to roll and drown him. |
| "It went straight away to the top of my head and diving under the water he tried to do that spinning thing," he said. | "It went straight away to the top of my head and diving under the water he tried to do that spinning thing," he said. |
| But he fought his way free and made it to the dinghy, and then back to shore. | But he fought his way free and made it to the dinghy, and then back to shore. |
| "I just feel that I've been lucky and I just think [if it was] a bigger crocodile, I maybe wouldn't have any head," he told ABC News. | "I just feel that I've been lucky and I just think [if it was] a bigger crocodile, I maybe wouldn't have any head," he told ABC News. |
| A Northern Territory official echoed Mr Galeran's sentiment, saying the outcome could have been "a lot more dire". | A Northern Territory official echoed Mr Galeran's sentiment, saying the outcome could have been "a lot more dire". |
| Lisa Heathcote, Mr Galeran's boss, said the crocodile had been in the area for weeks. | Lisa Heathcote, Mr Galeran's boss, said the crocodile had been in the area for weeks. |
| "We've walked out on the back deck and Jo's [Yoann] standing there with a big grin on his face and blood pouring out of him," she told ABC News. | "We've walked out on the back deck and Jo's [Yoann] standing there with a big grin on his face and blood pouring out of him," she told ABC News. |
| Fatal attacks in Australia by saltwater crocodiles - a protected species since the 1970s - remain rare. | Fatal attacks in Australia by saltwater crocodiles - a protected species since the 1970s - remain rare. |
| But the crocodiles are especially abundant in the Northern Territory, where deadly encounters have been reported. | But the crocodiles are especially abundant in the Northern Territory, where deadly encounters have been reported. |
| A boy was killed in December after he was dragged into the water by a crocodile at a swimming spot. Weeks before the incident, human remains were found in a crocodile's stomach in the state after a girl disappeared. | A boy was killed in December after he was dragged into the water by a crocodile at a swimming spot. Weeks before the incident, human remains were found in a crocodile's stomach in the state after a girl disappeared. |