Man Rescued by His Wife From Certain Death During Terrifying ‘Tug of War’ With 13-Foot Crocodile

A man was saved by his wife from certain doom as a massive 13-foot crocodile attempted to swallow him whole, The Daily Mail reported.

37-year-old Anthony Joubert was fishing with his 12-year-old son, JP, from a dam in South Africa when the terrifying incident occurred. Anthony had caught a bass fish moments before accidentally locking his hook in a nearby tree, leaving the wriggling fish dangling just inches from the water.

As JP went to unhook the catch, Anthony told his son to steer clear of the water. The father then walked into the shallows to retrieve their line, but as he did, a gigantic crocodile made themselves known.

“This crocodile must have been lying in ambush, because all of a sudden it exploded from the water and had its jaws round my leg and knocked me flat,” Anthony told The Daily Mail. “There was water everywhere, then it adjusted its grip and had my second leg in its mouth just below my belt and started thrashing its head to the left and right with such power,” he marveled.

He went on to further describe the harrowing ordeal, revealing that at least half of his body was inside of the croc’s mouth. “I could not see my legs,” Anthony revealed, noting that all he could see was “its teeth and those evil eyes just looking at me.” He recalled the creature “slowly back[ing] towards deeper water where it would take me down deep and drown me.”

Miraculously, Anthony remembered that in such situations one is advised to blind the crocodile in any way possible. There are several other stories, including one from last April, where victims successfully gouged the eyes of a crocodile to escape its grip; but Anthony’s attacker was particularly strong, and the gouging didn’t stop its campaign of terror.

"I remembered about gouging at the eyes and forced my thumbs into them, and it just shook me like a rag doll,” he explained. “I was punching it and trying to get its eyes out but the more I struggled and fought the more it shook me side to side.”

At this point, Anthony’s wife arrived and supplied aid in the form of a well-timed blow to the crocodile’s head using a log she picked up from the ground. “My wife, Annalize, appeared splashing through the water with a huge log from the dam bank,” he said. “She began smashing this giant crocodile over the head again and again with terrific force, and after five or six huge bashes the crocodile's jaws opened and it slid away.”

He continued: “I was waiting for the death roll and for it to drown me…I never knew my wife had the strength or the power to beat a creature that like off of me.”

Annalize went on to detail the frightening circumstance: “Half of my husband was inside a giant crocodile, legs first. I grabbed this log with a tree stump on the end of it and rushed out into the water and I just started battering it over the head again and again and screaming at it till it let go,” she recalled.

“It opened its jaws and Johan pulled back and Anthony came out. I could see the blood and… we pulled him out of the water. We were just terrified the crocodile would come back again… I was terrified of him bleeding to death, and infection from the crocodile's mouth, and the dirty water,” she recalled.

But Anthony still has a very long road to recovery. After initially being left in a public hospital which neglected to treat his wounds for more than 24 hours, he was moved to a private medical facility which the family is paying for out of pocket. Anthony will still require “skin grafts and a hell of a lot of healing,” according to his boss’ wife, Bianca, who arrived at the scene to provide first aid after the rescue.

Though it’s sure to be an arduous journey, Anthony is just feeling lucky to be alive with all of his limbs intact. “I honestly thought my legs were just going to get ripped off,” he said. “When you look at the wounds, it is incredible that I didn't lose one or both legs. I will never forget its teeth and how it looked at me.

“Every time I shut my eyes or try to sleep I see the crocodile. It is still with me. To have half your body inside a living beast with its jaws around your waist with it moving you deeper.”

Anthony’s story comes hot on the heels of several high-profile crocodile and alligator attacks in recent days. Earlier this week, a man in Florida was attacked by a croc after his sailboat capsized. Just a day later, another Florida man had his hand bitten off by an alligator on a golf course.