I have never been to Australia but one thing I know about Australia is Australians are fearless. Sadly, some people mix fearlessness with stupidity and that brings us to this story of Australian love. Boy is this story a doozy.

18-year-old Lee de Paauw voluntarily put himself into crocodile infested waters to impress a British woman he met and to prove a theory that “backpackers are more likely to get eaten by crocodiles than Australians.”

The news report even said that De Paauw had “Aussie bravado” but even Australians have to be thinking this guy is nuts after doing this.

Some of this brought on by drinking (let’s hope he didn’t do this sober) and thankfully De Paauw knew what to do in fending off the crocodile for him to survive. De Paauw punched the croc in the nose in order to get it to release his left arm. When the croc was about to pull him underwater, De Paauw gouged the croc in the eye and that worked. His arm was so bloodied that his skin is still stained red.

This story, as well as the interview, really has a lot to unpack. The attack is one thing but the interview is another thing altogether. The interviewer for this piece really goes for the questions we all have. She asked De Paauw what he thought when most Australians think he’s “one of the stupidest people around.” De Paauw said, “I’m not really. I’m just, I don’t know, trying to prove a point,” as well as “haters gonna hate.”

But what’s even better is the response of the woman this guy was trying to impress. I am not making this up, this is her actual response to what happened.

“I’ve never had a guy scream like that, you know, he was obviously terrified and he was obviously in agony. And, you know, it was sheer panic.”

The ironic twist was that this apparently worked. De Paauw actually has a date with this woman. I mean, after a croc attack, a couple compound fractures, a couple holes in his arm and the real fear that he would lose his arm or his life, De Paauw actually got what he wanted and has a date. The joys of young, Australian love.

Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, but maybe just ask her out next time.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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