‘Heroic’ husband sacrificed himself to crocodile to save wife

As the 5m crocodile approached him in the water, David Hogbin had a choice.
Keep clinging on to his wife’s wrist as she desperately tried to wrest him from the infested waters, even though he could see that she was faltering, slipping dangerously down the bank — or let go.
“Dave’s final, decisive act was to let go of Jane’s arm when he realised she was slipping in, an act that likely saved her life,” his sister-in-law, the journalist Alexis Carey wrote on Tuesday. “In a world-shattering instant, Dave was taken by the crocodile.”
Hogbin, 40, a highly regarded GP and paediatrician, was hiking with his wife, Jane, and three young children on Saturday in Australia’s far north, when a bank gave way and he fell into a river known to be the realm of fearsome predators.
Relatives said on Tuesday that Jane slid down and grabbed the hand of her husband as he struggled to escape the Annan River, 1,200 miles north of the Queensland capital, Brisbane.
Carey said that Hogbin’s last moments were witnessed by his wife but, mercifully, not by the couple’s three young sons — aged seven, five and two — who had remained on the river bank above their parents.
“One small consolation is that none of Dave’s children witnessed this event,” Carey wrote.
Hogbin was grabbed and pulled under by the male crocodile, believed to be aged at least 60 and one of the largest on the remote Annan River, late on Saturday afternoon.
The predator, known to locals as Mr Banks, had a reputation for menacing fishermen. The reptile was shot by wildlife rangers on Monday night and on Tuesday police confirmed Hogbin’s remains were found in its stomach.
“Dave was just the most calming, grounding person to have around in a crisis, and he was so loving, thoughtful, handsome, fiercely loyal and protective, and intelligent,” his wife told News Corp Australia.
Hogbin, who practised in the coal city of Newcastle, 105 miles north of Sydney, had a passion for remote camping trips. The family had travelled in their four-wheel-drive vehicle more than 2,700 miles from their home to where he died.
“Contrary to initial reports, he was not fishing at the time,” Carey wrote.
“While walking along an established path on a riverbank around 5m high — well out of a crocodile’s striking range — it is believed a portion of the bank suddenly gave way, perhaps due to recent heavy rainfall in the area.
“It caused Dave to fall down into the river below, and despite being tall, strong and fit, the conditions of the terrain meant Dave was unable to get himself out of the water.
“But Jane was near by, and after hearing the splash, she slid down to desperately try and pull Dave out. Due to the steepness and slipperiness of the bank, she was able to grab his arm, but soon began slipping into the river herself,” said Carey.
She said that Hogbin’s final choice to release his grip, was a heroic one. “Dave’s brave decision in that terrifying moment very likely saved his wife’s life, ensuring she was able to return to their boys.”
The area of the Annan River near where Hogbin was killed is known by locals as “crocodile bend”.
A tourist boat operator, Nick Davidson, said locals would often throw roadkill and dead fish from a bridge, which were snapped up the animal that killed Hogbin. “It’s a truly frightening situation, it’s the stuff of nightmares … it’s definitely rocked the town,” he said.
Australia’s north contains up to 200,000 adult saltwater crocodiles. The animals have been protected since 1971, after numbers were decimated by hunting.
After a series of fatal attacks, the Northern Territory government in April said 1,200 crocodiles would be trapped and destroyed to purge numbers of “rogue” crocodiles believed to pose a clear danger to humans.
The Territory’s plan will also result in 90,000 eggs being taken from the wild and then hatched inside farms, so the crocodiles can be killed, skinned and turned into luxury handbags.