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Man attacked by crocodile in Innisfail river

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A teenager attacked by a crocodile in far north Queensland was dared to jump into the croc-infested waters, paramedics say.

Innisfail man Lee de Paauw also reportedly punched the crocodile to get away, according to reports the paramedics heard.

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Teen escapes crocodile attack

He is now undergoing surgery after a miraculous escape in Queensland's north. Vision Courtesy: Channel Seven

Queensland Ambulance Service Cairns senior operations supervisor Neil Noble said the 18-year-old was "revelling" with friends about 2.30am

"The circumstances that led up to this attack are quite sketchy but reports from the scene are that he was dared to jump into the water, which he did," he said.

"Unfortunately that area's well known for its crocodile population and we're just really grateful that he survived this incident because it could have turned out to be quite fatal."

Mr de Paauw was quickly pulled from the water and rushed to the Innisfail Hospital, before being taken into surgery in Cairns.

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"Certainly to get him out the water was absolutely vital in case that crocodile was able to get a good grip on him and do the death roll and drown him, which I believe is often the case," Mr Noble said.

"So we're very grateful that he was able to get out and certainly this could have turned out to be quite different indeed."

The paramedic said the man's arm, initially thought to have been amputated was "really badly damaged" and would need extensive surgery.

EARLIER

A young man jumped off a wharf in the middle of the night, straight into the mouth of a crocodile.

Queensland Ambulance supervisor Rita Kelly said paramedics were called out to Innisfail about 2.30am following reports an 18-year-old man had jumped into the river and been mauled by a crocodile.

"On arrival we found a male who had jumped into the Johnstone River and was attacked by a crocodile and had significant injuries to his arm," she said.

The man was initially taken to Innisfail Hospital where he was stabilised, before he was then transported to Cairns Hospital. He arrived at Cairns Hospital around 5am and went straight into surgery.

"He is very lucky, initial reports were his hand was completely amputated and on arrival that was not the case," Ms Kelly said. 

"Although he does have significant injuries, his arm is still intact which is very fortunate."

Ms Kelly said paramedics are not sure why the man jumped into the river, and they are not sure how big the crocodile was.

An air and sea search was launched nearby on Saturday night after a 35-year-old man disappeared while spear fishing alone between Palmer Point and High Island, north of Innisfail.

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers spotted the man's abandoned dinghy about 6pm, before finding the spear gun floating nearby.

The Rescue 510 helicopter, private vessels, Volunteer Marine Rescue and Innisfail police began searching on Saturday eveniung and were continuing on Sunday.

A police spokeswoman said she expected the search to continue as long as the weather allowed.

Police divers from Brisbane were travelling to the area but the spokeswoman stressed it was still a search and rescue operation, not a recovery effort.