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A husband leaped on to the back of a giant saltwater crocodile and gouged its eyes as it was dragging his wife to what seemed like certain death.
And as Norm Moreen, 39, battled the beast from above, his wife - her legs held fast in the reptile's
powerful jaws - reached up to help him.
Their heroic fight forced the crocodile to abandon its efforts to pull Wendy Petherick underwater.
It swam away, leaving the couple to struggle to safety.
Ms Petherick, 36, was treated at the remote Northern Territory Aboriginal community of Woolaning, where she and her husband live, then taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment to eight puncture wounds to her right thigh, another in her left thigh and a severe cut to a finger.
At the hospital, she told how she tried to prise the crocodile's jaws from her legs.
"I grabbed him by the jaw, on top," she said.
"My finger ripped ... I was trying to open his mouth. I was in the water and he was pulling me under.
"Being a little person, I think he would have dragged me, death-rolled me and killed me."
Mr Moreen was matter-of-fact about his battle to save his wife.
"I just jumped on top of it," he said. "There was no time for fears when you want to save someone, especially someone you love."
The attack, on Tuesday, occurred at the Bamboo Creek crossing in Litchfield National Park, about 160km southwest of Darwin,
Ms Petherick was standing at the river bank washing her face when the crocodile lunged, locked its jaws on her legs and started dragging her into the water.
"My husband said, 'Let's just freshen up'. He jumped in and I walked down after him ... Next minute the croc just grabbed me and pulled me in.
"I wasn't panicking ... I had to fight back."
New Zealander Steve Landreth, who moved to Woolaning at Christmas to teach at the Homeland Christian College, said Ms Petherick was "one of the bravest women I've ever met".
"Even after being grabbed in the thigh by a crocodile and injured, she was just talking very calmly about what happened and she said, 'Oh yes, my husband jumped on his back and we poked him in the eyes and got free'."
"He was also very calm and a very, very brave man to attack the crocodile. They're far braver than me, I can tell you," Mr Landreth said. "These crocs are vicious machines."
Northern Australia has had five fatalities from crocodile attacks in the past six years despite warnings about the danger posed by growing numbers of the protected species.
And before Tuesday's attack, three other people had narrowly escaped death in crocodile attacks this year.
Rangers said the attack on Ms Petherick was the first in Litchfield National Park, which is a popular tourist destination.
Australia's big saltwater crocs have a powerful bite - about three tonnes per 2.5 sq cm - and can drag cattle into the water.
Royal Darwin Hospital general manager Dr Len Notaras said Ms Petherick's injuries were serious but not life-threatening.
He said she would stay in hospital for three or four days for surgery to clean wounds at risk of infection from bacteria from the crocodile's teeth.
