Fisherman punches crocodile to escape its jaws in 40-minute fight

A fisherman trapped in the jaws of a 13ft crocodile punched it with his bare fists in a desperate 40-minute fight for his life.

Mine worker Todd Bairstow, 28, was angling on an isolated creek in north-eastern Australia when the man-eater lunged out of the water.

It bit off one of his fingers then latched on to his legs - breaking them both - before rolling "around and around" in its death roll as it tried to drag him down into deeper water and eat him.

Mr Bairstow, who was today "stable" in hospital after surgery, told how he battled to survive by hanging on to the branches of mangrove trees and pummelling the crocodile with his fists.

He also poked it in the eyes and tried to pull its jaws apart after it "sprang out of nowhere" as he fished on the banks of Trunding Creek near Weipa in northern Queensland at 4pm yesterday.

After a 40-minute struggle, the Rio Tinto bauxite miner was neck-deep in the water and about to go under when his screams were heard by a local man standing on the veranda of the Albatross Hotel pub.

He raced down to the creek and leapt in before tearing a heavy branch off a mango tree and smashing it repeatedly on the crocodile's snout. The reptile finally gave up, let go and swam away. The rescuer dragged battered and bleeding Mr Bairstow to safety.

The victim was airlifted to Cairns by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. He had extensive lower limb lacerations, cuts to his hands, broken legs and dislocated joints. He was taken to Cairns Base Hospital where his injuries were today said to be "not life-threatening".

His father said: "You just cannot imagine a more terrifying experience. My son fought for 40 minutes until he was saved."