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BRISBANE, Australia, Feb 28, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A 61-year-old woman has been awarded Australia's highest civilian award for bravery for tackling a 14-foot crocodile that was attacking a family friend.
Alicia Sorohan of Brisbane was given the Star of Courage for her actions during a camping trip with family and friends in October 2004 at a beach in far north Queensland.
Waking to the sounds of her son's friend, Andrew Kerr, screaming, Sorohan and her husband Bill rushed out of their tent to see a crocodile latched on to Kerr's leg and dragging him towards the water.
Sorohan immediately dove onto the reptile's back to distract it, which worked, but as it writhed, it broke her nose and clamped onto her arm. She was saved when her son Jason shot the crocodile, the Brisbane Courier Mail said.
Sorohan underwent surgery. It has taken more than a year of constant physiotherapy to get her arm, now complete with two plates and 12 screws, back into shape.
"How can you just stand by and watch somebody get hurt?" she said at her award ceremony.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
