A couple who desperately paddled into the water in a kayak have recalled the horrifying moment they realised a huge crocodile had a man by the thigh, saying they were left “so consumed with grief and anger”
A couple tried to save a man after thinking he was a swimmer caught in a rip current, only to realise he was being mauled by a huge crocodile.
The 28-year-old, known only as Irving from Mexico City, had been swimming at Marina Vallarta Beach, off the coast of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at about 6.30pm on Friday, June 26, when the crocodile attacked him. Jamie Yetter and her fiancé, Chris Bury, from Orange County, California, witnessed the horrific attack while going for a swim nearby and immediately rushed to help.
Jamie said: “We just finished an evening walk … and we jumped in the pool and from the pool we heard screaming down at the beach. Chris and I are strong swimmers; we’re from Southern California [and] .. so we jumped out the pool to see what was going on.”
At first, the couple believed the man had become caught in a rip current. Jamie told NBC Los Angeles: “We thought we saw a guy stuck in a rip current. Chris took off down to the water and I ran right after him.”
The pair found a kayak and paddled into the water in a desperate attempt to reach the man. Chris said: “We kayaked out to try and grab him. There were no oars; there was really nothing at the beach at all that helped. We were just kind of scrambling, trying to do what we could [and then] he got pulled under.”
As they reached the man, they realised he was being attacked by a crocodile. Jamie told ABC7: “The crocodile had him by the thigh, and he would turn, and the size of this crocodile, I mean, his head was as long as my torso, his tail thicker than my legs. He was just turning him, taking him under.”
Chris added: “He went down, and then, at that point, he stayed down. So I was over top of him, but the water was so murky, and you couldn’t even see a foot down. By the time I got to him, it was unfortunately too late,” he continued. “It’s pretty traumatising.”
Jamie later said she was “so consumed with grief and anger”.
The victim’s remains were recovered about 12 hours later, in the early hours of Saturday, June 27. Local authorities reported the man had been on holiday with a group of friends when he was attacked.
According to Jamie, warning signs had been displayed along the route from the hotel to the beach, alerting visitors to the presence of jellyfish, stingrays and crocodiles in the area.
