A woman has punched and kicked a 10-foot saltwater crocodile on the nose to free her teenage nephew from its jaws during an attack in the Australian Outback.

　　Manual Gandigorrtij, 19, was loading wild geesesintoshis small boat at the water's edge when a crocodile lunged at his leg and pulled himsintosthe creek, 250 miles east of Darwin.

　　His aunt and uncle raced to his rescue. "He dragged mesintosthe water and then my uncle and my aunt jumped on it," Mr Gandigorrtij said from the hospital.

　　His aunt, Margaret Rinybuma, 53, attacked the crocodile with her fists and feet. "She punched it, the croc, and she kicked it," Mr Gandigorrtij said.

　　"I hit him with my fist on the nose and it let him go," Mrs Rinybuma said. After the crocodile let go, his aunt and uncle dragged him from the water. Mr Gandigorrtij was recovering in Royal Darwin Hospital following surgery for three deep cuts in his left leg.

　　A German tourist died in Kakadu national park last year after being attacked by a saltwater crocodile.