Women fight with crocodile to free man from jaws – boy prays in mud

Anthony (known to his friends as Antonie) was grabbed by a four-metre-long crocodile last Saturday.

“The Lord put the log there because Anthony started to get tired. I screamed, ‘The crocodile is pulling him in!’ to which Annalize hit the crocodile on the head again, and he let go.”

Bianca van der Colff gets emotional when she talks about the traumatic events where Anthony Joubert was attacked by a crocodile on a farm in ankle-deep water.

“They don’t have a medical aid fund, but if we had left him in the Middelburg Hospital, he wouldn’t have made it. He is now in Life Midmed Hospital and we need the community’s help.”

Anthony’s son JP (12) shouted excitedly on Saturday afternoon when he caught a fish.
Everyone ran to the dam and saw the line and hook, with the fish still attached, caught on a tree branch hanging in the water.

Great excitement reigned among the adults and children as it was the first fish of the weekend, and Anthony walked to the tree to release the fish.

“The next moment, the giant crocodile jumped out of the water and grabbed Anthony. We think he was after the struggling fish, but took Anthony.”

Before the eyes of the group of adults and young children, they saw the crocodile’s jaws clamp around Anthony’s stomach and hips.
He tried to fight the crocodile, but they realized he wouldn’t be able to do anything against the giant animal.

Bianca’s husband, Johan, grabbed Anthony by the arms to try to pull him out of its jaws, but the crocodile’s jaws did not move.
He let go of Anthony for a fraction of a second but immediately started biting him again with a stronger grip, he then started shaking him.

Anthony’s wife Annalize got hold of a tree stump, ran towards the crocodile and started hitting him on the head with all her might.
Bianca also hit him with a stick but grabbed Annalize by the clothes with her other hand and held on to her.

“I held her because if she had slipped, the crocodile would have taken her too. Anthony tried to fight back by pushing his fingers into the crocodile’s eyes.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Bianca saw how her three-year-old son, Janco, was on his knees in the shallow muddy water.

“He whispered: ‘Amen Jesus’ and also began to sing the Afrikaans song ‘Daar is vissies in die water…’ (a well-known spiritual children’s song).

Johan ran and fetched a pistol, with which he fired shots away from the women and children, hoping that the crocodile would let Anthony go.

The blunt blows to the crocodile’s head, Anthony’s fingers in his eyes, the screaming children and the gunshots probably unnerved the crocodile, which left Anthony and disappeared under the surface of the water.

Johan picked up the heavily bleeding Anthony and placed him on the deck, where the women rinsed the wounds, disinfected them and began to wrap them with bandages.

“There is no signal on the farm so we couldn’t call an ambulance. Fortunately, I always have a first aid kit with me and we did our best to bind up the gaping wounds on his stomach, groin and thigh. We could see his injuries down to the bone.”

They made Anthony comfortable in Johan’s vehicle and they braved the almost impassable farm road to get him to a hospital.
The women and children remained on the farm.

“Before they drove, I had his wife and children kiss and hug him… it was so difficult because the children kept asking if their father was dead… or if he was still alive… and we were sitting in a place where we couldn’t hear what was going on.”

Because the farm is so far away and the road is in such bad condition, Johan stopped at Kranspoort to see if Anthony was bleeding more. After checking, he rushed straight to the hospital.

He was at the hospital at around 20:00, where the nurses put Anthony in a wheelchair.

Anthony was suffering from severe shock and asked Johan to bring him cigarettes and a cold drink.

Johan rushed to get the items his friend had requested, but when he returned, security personnel refused to let him go back to give it to Anthony.

By Sunday, Anthony was in excruciating pain and the family decided to move him to Life Midmed Hospital, where he was immediately admitted to have the wound on his stomach sutured.

Anthony’s groin and thigh wounds were already infected and he will need follow-up treatment. His broken hands were also disinfected and bandaged.

• Johan went back to the farm, but on the way there, his tyre burst and he had to change it first before he could inform everyone that Anthony had received help.

‘• Bianca took Annalize and the children to her house.

The Joubert children have all gone to school, and Laerskool Middelburg has offered to help them with trauma counselling.

Bianca says the family is in a serious financial crisis, “We need canned food and other non-perishable foods like two-minute noodles. And if someone can contribute towards the hospital costs, we would also appreciate it. Anthony is in a general ward, but the costs will be around R100 000. Any contribution, whether through food or funds, would be appreciated at this stage.”

Persons wishing to make contributions can call Bianca directly on 072 186 3199.

• Bianca does not want to reveal the farm’s name and only mentions that it happened on one of their friends’ farms in a gorge.
“It’s not the owner’s fault. Everywhere there are signs that there is a crocodile. However, this is the first time in six years that we have seen the crocodile.”