Oh, what we’ll do for love. When those butterflies start fluttering, a person may go to extreme lengths to impress a crush, opting to listen to their heart over brain. And no one knows that better than Australian Lee De Paauw, who squared off with a frigging crocodile to impress a girl.
De Paauw claimed that he had wanted to impress British backpacker Sophie Paterson, who he met at a Queensland, Australia hostel over the past weekend. The two were reportedly having a night out, and after slamming a few drinks, De Paauw apparently had enough liquid courage to go for broke. He explained to Paterson the very questionable logic that local saltwater crocodiles are more dangerous to tourists than locals — crocs, which should be noted, can grow up to 23 feet in length.
Paterson didn’t seem to believe his claim (and why would she), so she dared him to jump into a nearby crock-infested river. In a bid to impress her, De Paauw obliged and — SPOILER ALERT! — he was immediately attacked by a crocodile. Turns out his theory was wrong, and he just managed to escape with his life by punching the croc in the nose and eye and severely injuring his left arm in the process. But was this enough to impress Paterson? Well, no, actually.
“You know, risking your life, there’s nothing funny about that,” she told an Australian network. “So, no I’m not impressed by it, that would be an odd word to use, you know. I think he’s very brave to be, you know, in such high spirits after what happened, but no, not impressed by somebody risking their life, you know, in such a way.”
De Paauw admitted what he did was dumb, calling it pure “stupidity.” But for all the hopeless romantics out there, all was not lost, because she did eventually agree to go out with him. Maybe for their next date, he can take a dip with some local piranhas?
(Via CBS News)