Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Sean Dealy from Adelaide River Cruises tells Katie his story of getting bitten by a crocodile

Transcript

Sean Dealy from Adelaide River Cruises tells Katie his story of getting bitten by a crocodile · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's eleven minutes away from ten o'clock. And I tell
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: you Wash, I'm sure that a lot of Territorians like
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: me earlier in the week when we heard that somebody
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: had been attacked by a crocodile on the Adelaide River,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: certainly felt pretty concerned. And joining me on the line
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: right now is the person who was attacked, Sean Dearly.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, goodakaty you're.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Going, Oh mate, I'm all right. How are you going?
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Oh well, yeah, I'm all right.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: And they just took the bandy joff for the splint
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: off and we've got to see the wounds. So they're
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: pretty nasty. But for a small crocodile, they can do
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: a bit of dammage, all right, Yeah.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Goodness mate, Sean, tell us exactly what happened.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: As you know, my tour operator and I was on
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: tour and we're just about finished our tour and I
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: was just doing, you know, feeding a few of the
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: whistling cats and black carts out there with a bit
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: of scrap meat that was at the back there and
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: I was throwing it up in the air and that's
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: one of my little rocks. And I went into the water,
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: and I think what happened right so that there must
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: have been a small crock. There's only a small crock
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: that got me. It must have been just in the
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: rear of the transit, and I think just recollecting, I
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: think maybe what the splash of that rod attracted it.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: And it came in.
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: And I usually use the bust to pull things out
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: of the water carry because it's you know, that's our practices.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: And I just saw that bob was bamboo. So I
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: saw bob and I reached down to quickly grab it,
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: and it was like grief lightning. It was just on me,
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: and it was just sort of an instinctive movement. I
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: just went, oh, yeah, but yeah, Like normally I will
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: check myself and don't do it, but I'll just be
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: end of the cruise. I was probably just, you know,
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: just did something out of the normal.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Really, And.
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  Speaker 3: At this time of the year, the crocodiles submerged themselves
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: quite a lot because there's a lot of flies around.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: They bought their eyes so they stand with water. And
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  Speaker 2: this crocodile had got me.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: It was a bit two point two meter as long
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  Speaker 3: as you have little female I think, and very sandy
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  Speaker 3: colored crocodile said the color the Adelaide River very simm
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: It was probably just.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: I had its eyes just under the surface.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: I was probably just waiting there, got attracted to that
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: initial splash of something.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Hit me that click. I actually listened it up with me.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: I hanging off the arm and I'm looking at the
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: crockets looking at me, and I think, well, maybe you
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: think I think this thing is probably thinking it has
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: bitten off bitten in the can chut and instead of
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: thinking for another grab and I just pulled my hand
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: for it exactly that it was on my hand, on
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: my forearm. Oh, just got free to drop back in
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: the water. Everyone on the boat just turned around. I said, ah,
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: I don't know what I said. Something got me, I
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: think coming. And they all turned around and there were
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: great bunch of people. They could have had a better people.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: Actually they were fantastic. And I just said, don't panty,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: there's a bit of claret. I was lucky there was
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: a male nurse on board. I go well equipped to
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: do with the bendaging and we've got extent first aid
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: on the boat. He grabbed a couple of pressure banages
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: and pag things and wrapped me up. I drove the
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: boat back to the ramp and tied her up and
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: saw everyone else and then we headed into the Darwin
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: hospital with the farming in the hospital emergency.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: So mate, you literally you had a crocodile attached to
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: your arm. You know, the whole tour boat is watching.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: You managed to get free and then you still finished
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: your tour.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Well, it was only fifty or seventy meters from the
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: boat ramp.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: I took base.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, one of the gentlemen helped me out there.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Now I got off the time boat. There was still one,
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: say the Benaje on there. There was no big deal
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: for me. Actually, you know, the bike force of the
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: crocodile was quite amazing. Actually, the pain it was on
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: the way in was becoming pretty intense. But they got
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: a pretty decent bottle.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: And I'm not to tell you.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what did it feel like, you know, when you've
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: got the crocodile sort of attached to you, But then
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: in the aftermath as well as you're driving in.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: The aftermath was that it didn't hit the bone in
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: thank cord. Just but the power of their bots and
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: amazing as well. I've been bitten by to your dogs
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: every day, but the bottle of the salty is pretty hard.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: And as I said about you know, three cans and
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: tams per experience in the back force, I would hate
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: to think, uh, you know, after I saw the the
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: newspaper saying I was doing a tag bar three will
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: pull me the crocodile, I don't think I'll be I
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: don't think you'd be able to get free of something
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: like that if I grab hold of you and h
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: this little crocodile. Obviously you know it's been a big crocodle.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Would have seen it, and it was just a little
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: croc very well, just called the camp flies.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: But a silly move.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: I made a mistake, mates on the stake once in
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: the Blue MOONI I made a mistake and was stupid
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: to do it, Like I literally credit well.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: And no doubt, but you've been working on the water
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: for such a long time as well, and never had
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: something like this happened before.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Had incident the company's actually got into the free but
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: a record. And you know I went capat for many.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Years as well.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: You know I was on the water out there Yellow Waters,
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: and yeah, I've got a pretty good knowledge of crocodiles.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: I reckon, and yeah, I just I did something which
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: really was out of our training. We do discuss these things,
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: and we do have a work method approaches to retrieving
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: things from the water.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: And you know, I just disobeyed my own else.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, goodness, a lecture on the boat before we start off,
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: you know, and tell them exactly what they can and
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: can't do on the boat. And I've just gone and
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: done something.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Yuh sure, do you when are you going to be
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: back on the water?
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: Well, I just I told that the the tendons, eight
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: tens were were damaged and one was severed. I think
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: eight was seven. The title all back up. I reckon
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: about three weeks before I could start moving my fingers,
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: and then, uh that's three months before I can actually
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: get anything really going on. And the infection is a
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: big growing just changing anybody can crocodile boches, we know,
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: really infectious basically.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a big way, you know, Oh.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: No doubt mate. Do you think it's going to leave
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: you with any sort of fear around the crocodiles or
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: I know that you'd have a healthy respect for them
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: as it is.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: Now, I don't think I'll fear them Katie, it's just yeah,
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: I just uh, it'll make me remember my rules.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: For sure. Yeah.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: I rehiterated to myself quite a lot. But look, we
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: are generally, Look, we we work on the river there,
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: and we we we practice safe methods in handling and
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: working around crocodiles at all times, and and we we
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: just just reached out. It was just any stick, like know,
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: I just thought it's bobbed up, bobs up, bobbed up,
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: and I went to grab it, you know what I mean. Yeah,
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: So I went down vertically and I bobbed back up,
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: and I, oh god, quickly grab it.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: And as soon as I put why I'm out there.
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: Bank, Yeah, oh mate, waiting because right at the back
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: of the boat, we've got the the chicken we used
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: to feed the crocodiles quite off, and the crocodiles will
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: come up behind the boat and just actually know where
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: we have the food, you know.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're so bloody smart.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they are too smart, don't are you?
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: Poor bugger?
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm sorry, like, I'm so glad that you're around
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: to tell the tale, because, like you'd said, had it
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: been one of those enormous crocodiles, the situation might have
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: been very different.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, you know exactly, but you would have seen
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: that crocodile.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: You would have seen that.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and there was a large crocodile at the
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: front of the boat that it's probably about twelve meters
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: away at the front of the boat. And basically, you know,
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: I don't think anything else would be around us, but
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: I really, yeah, I should have done. I'm living do
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: re credit.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it's one of those things, Caudie. I think
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: every workplace you haven't.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: Actually, there's always something because you didn't think or you know, yeah,
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: to practice or methods order.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Well, Sean, I tell you what, I'm glad that you
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: are going to be okay. You know. I know that
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: it's that there is damage there and it's going to
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: take you a little while, by the sounds of it,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: to be able to get back out on the water.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: But I'm glad that you're okay.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: No, thanks very much, Yeah, no, no, no. The boys
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: are taking care of it and going on and you know,
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: we've only got a little bit less time left in
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: the season, probably which close o Breck generally around November.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Where we are with the small operators on the rimy.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: You know, and we're at a flood plain, so we've
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: got a little bit of time's it was a little bit.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: School holidays picked a bit easier than being hard. You
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: at the COVID as well.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: So now yeah, I've just got to endure this and
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: wait for the next season.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Now well, mate, I know you'd be going through a
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: tough time. I know you're probably going to be in
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: hospital for a little while. But we have a territory
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: and of the week every week, as you probably know,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: and this week I want to give it to you.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: You score yourself a gourmet meat trade thanks to Glenn
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: and ls n H Butcher's, and you might need one
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: of your mates to cook the barbecue for you, because
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: I want to cook the barbie for you for a
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: little while.