'I just wanted to play with the crocodile'

A man who survived a terrifying crocodile attack when he jumped into its enclosure in Broome on Monday night believed he might die when it closed its jaws over his leg.

Michael Newman, 36, of Perth, denied he was drunk when he scaled the fence at Malcolm Douglas' crocodile park in Cable Beach and climbed into a pen, hoping to pat and sit on one of the beasts.

He said as the crocodile, "Fatso", took hold of his leg, he grabbed hold of the fence with both hands.

"I said 'Artisian, let me go, let me go' – and he opened his mouth and let me go. It happened so quick," he said.

"When it grabbed me, I thought I'm in trouble here – I'm not coming out of here. I knew if it had have grabbed my rib cage or something different … if it had his whole mouth open and grabbed me sideways somewhere big, that's when it uses all its biting power."

Mr Newman claimed he had been dreaming of crocodiles for several weeks before arriving in Broome and had wanted to see one in real life.

"I'd never seen a crocodile in my lifetime. I went to Cable Beach one day for a swim and to get a suntan and I came across this crocodile park," he said.

He said he had talked to one of the crocodiles through the fence, who he dubbed "Artisian" and it had opened his mouth and looked at him.

"Then he closed his mouth – and as the mouth closed, it went 'boof' and sounded like two iron bars hitting. Then he swam into the water."

He said he had been passing the crocodile park with a torch on Monday night and "thought I might go for a browse, for a look around."

He denied he was drunk at the time.

He said he heard crocodiles splashing around in the dark and saw a five metre crocodile through a fence making a growling noise, so he put his hand through the fence to feel its skin.

"I just wanted to play with it, to experience something that I'd never experienced in my lifetime," he said.

"I couldn't reach it, so I thought to myself well, I'll jump the fence and go from behind its tail and pat it and sit on its back. Within one split second … it had me."

He pointed to his injured leg, wrapped heavily in blood-spotted white bandages.

"The skin here was ripped off and it put a big hole through the side of my leg here – I think they stitched it up," he said.

He limped back to the Diver's Tavern and was later taken to hospital for treatment to several deep gashes in his right leg and a shattered knee-cap.

"I felt the blood splurting out of my leg – and as I put pressure on my leg I could feel the inside of my knee-cap, which was all cracked and shattered."

Police later found the croc with its mouth resting on Mr Newman's torch.

Mr Newman is expected to remain in Broome Hospital until at least the end of the week undergoing further treatment to avoid bacterial infection.

"I know they're dangerous animals and stuff – but people, don't they go and hand feed them in the pens?" Mr Newman said.

"I was thinking if someone else could go up and hand feed them, I could go up and pat them – but unfortunately they move so fast. I thought it was a slow creature and stupid, but they're quick."

He said he would never go near a crocodile again and would advise other people to do the same.