Man bites crocodile to free son in Palawan
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2019 09:25:40 +0000
MAP of Balabac Palawan
A father gave a big crocodile a dose of its own medicine by repeatedly biting the beast to free his 12-year-old son from its jaws in Balabac, Palawan Friday.
Supt. Socrates Faltado, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police Region 4-B, said Tejada Abdulhasan was apparently forced to use his only weapon he had during that time since the crocodile was already pulling down his son Diego under the river in Barangay Pasig at around 6 p.m. on Friday.
“He repeatedly bit the soft parts of the crocodile in a bid to rescue his son,” said Faltado. “This forced the crocodile to release his son and swim away,” he added.
Faltado said that Diego and his younger brother were swimming in a river in Sitio Mararango when a crocodile suddenly appeared and bit his left arm.
Diego tried to free himself and struggled not to be dragged away by the crocodile. The incident was witnessed by the younger brother who immediately ran to their nearby home to tell their parents.
The father ran towards the river and tried to hit the crocodile with his fist but to no avail.
But his desperation, coupled with the loud cry of his bloodied son, did not lose the spirit of Tejada who then came up with the idea on how to effectively subdue the crocodile, said Faltado.
The father told the police that he continuously bit a soft part of the crocodile on one of its legs, and a few minutes later, the bloodied croc gave up and escaped.
“Fortunately and due to the bravery of his father, the victim did not drown and only suffered wounds from crocodile bite,” said Faltado.
The victim was taken to a local hospital the following day for treatment of his wounds.
Crocodile attack is common in the southernmost part of Palawan which is home to the saltwater crocodile. A number of crocodile attacks, most of them are deadly, were reported in the past few years.
Experts said the crocodile attacks became frequent in the past years as residents started to invade the natural habitat of the saltwater crocodiles where they breed and hunt for food. (Aaron Recuenco)