As Hungry Croc Attacked Mom, Son Remembered Dad’s Advice

DARWIN, Australia —  A 13-foot crocodile attacked a family sleeping in a tent, mauling the mother until her son stuck his fingers into its eyes, the son said today.

“It was something my father had told me to do if we were ever attacked,” Peter Pangquee said.

Lena Pangquee, 55, her 55-year-old husband and their 35-year-old son had accompanied other family members on a camping and fishing trip to an isolated creek about 120 miles south of Darwin, in far northern Australia.

The younger Pangquee said the crocodile attacked Saturday night as they were asleep in a 13-foot-square mosquito shelter.

“I was sleeping at my mother and father’s feet when I heard my mother yell out,” Pangquee said. “I jumped up and saw the crocodile rip straight through the mesh.

“It came in from my parents’ side, and my mother could see it was going for dad. He’s been left weak down one side after having a stroke, and she just threw herself between him and the croc.

“She was pulling him out of the way when the croc grabbed her around the body. It all happened so quick, but I just went for the croc’s head. I must have stuck my fingers about an inch into its eyes, and it stopped as if it didn’t know what to do. It dropped my mother and went up onto its hind legs before spinning around.”

Lena Pangquee was in serious but stable condition in Royal Darwin Hospital.