Brit backpacker ‘finally agrees to go on date’ with Aussie teen who was mauled by crocodile trying to impress her…but she rejected him at first
Lee De Paauw, 18, almost lost his arm when attacked by the 10ft crocodile during the foolish stunt
THE "beautiful" British backpacker whose affections spurred an Australian teenager to leap into a crocodile-infested river has agreed to go on a date with him, he claims.
Lee De Paauw, who almost lost his arm when he was attacked during the foolhardy stunt, says the pair will be going to see a movie.
De Paauw was attacked by a massive 10ft-long Queensland crocodile after jumping in the river to impress Sophie Paterson.
This morning he told he foolhardily flung himself towards the crocs "for that beautiful backpacker", reported.
"She didn’t even know I had been attacked at first. She thought I was pulling her leg until I hopped out of the water with my arm hanging down."
He told Today’s Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson that Ms Paterson had said she would go on a movie date following his ordeal.
But at the exact moment Lee was talking up Sophie’s appearance on one network, she was demolishing his reputation on another.
"Look, I would have to be quite twisted to be impressed by that," Sophie told .
MOST READ IN NEWS
"Risking your life, there is nothing funny about that. I’m not impressed by somebody risking their life."
Ms Patterson said she had arrived in Innisfail to do some fruit picking and was relaxing in the hostel with a friend when Mr De Paauw rocked up.
"Lee came to the hostel because he knew someone there. We were drinking, having a nice night. It was my first experience drinking goon.
"It was quite quiet, chilled out. Nothing too crazy," she said. "And then he decided to jump in with the crocodiles."
Meanwhile, over on Channel 9, when quizzed about what made Sophie so special, a somewhat stilted Mr De Paauw suddenly seemed started to doubt she was really worth almost dying for.
"Ah, she is not really [so special], just another girl. But she is really good-looking. [She’d] been kind to me the night before."
Ms Patterson said she’d try and see Mr De Paauw — if her schedule allowed.
"I had the intention of driving to the hospital the next morning but he was moved to Cairns. I’ll try to pop up at the weekend if I can. I have a commitment to a job that I can’t get out of."
Sophie had previously told : "He's too young for me. Being attacked by animals doesn't really do it for me."
that Lee had "bragged" of how he could swim in the water over drinks at a nearby hostel.
She said: "He was talking about the local creek saying 'I can swim out' and so we said, 'go on then', but we didn't think he would do it. He sort of made this claim 'I'll swim out and back.'
"At first we just said 'don't be so ridiculous' and didn't think he was going to go through with it."
Lee had been dared to jump into croc-infested waters in Queensland, Australia
Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368