Man recovering at home following crocodile attack in Mexico

ABOVE: Man recovering at home following crocodile attack in Mexico. Cindy Pom reports. 

TORONTO – A 57-year-old Scottish man, attacked by a crocodile, is recovering at home.

“I can remember my feet were in the water, but it all happened so fast that I didn’t think I was going to die,” said Douglas Thomson. “I just wanted to get my leg out of that crocodile’s mouth.”

Thomson suffered the injury while golfing in Cancun, Mexico.

He was there celebrating a friend’s birthday.

On November 8^th, they decided to go golfing. They were on the 16^th hole. Thomson’s ball was a several metres ahead of those of his friends and about 2 metres to the right of thick brush.

“Next thing I know this crocodile was grabbing onto my leg and was dragging me back into the lagoon and the brush,” he said. “I started screaming, luckily, Brendan saw it happen and so he came rushing over and he started hitting it with his golf club but it was still dragging me.”

The crocodile lunged and sunk its teeth into Thomson’s upper leg above the knee tearing out some muscle.

Thomson’s friend Mark began hitting the crocodile with a 9-iron while another friend, Cody, used the golf cart to run over the crocodile.

“It opened its mouth for a second and Brendan and mark pulled me out,” Thomson said.

He was initially treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital.

Thomson guesses 150-200 stitches were used to close his leg wound.  He doesn’t know for sure however: the nurse lost count around 70.  Almost two weeks later, the stitches are now out.

Despite the ordeal, Thomson remains surprisingly jovial considering a crocodile took a chunk out of his leg.

He told Global News Friday that if he learned anything it was “don’t take your friends out for their birthday” and “if you’re hitting a crocodile, use a three wood, don’t use a nine iron.”

– With files from Cindy Pom