“I just done it for Sophie,” says lad who punched out croc

Ah the folly of youth. In an Australian outback Sunday Lee De Paauw, 18, suffered severe arm injuries after being grabbed by a crocodile when he splashed into the Johnstone River. De Paauw managed to free himself by punching the reptile in the eye. British backpacker Sophie Patterson, 24, saw the incident and said De Paauw had claimed “I’ll swim out and back.” She said that at first she just said “don’t be so ridiculous” and didn’t think he was going to go through with it. But he did. De Paauw said from his hospital bed about Ms. Patterson. “She’s beautiful, caring and kind. I didn’t know there was a croc there. I just done it for Sophie.”