"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Alicia Sorahan. (A brave Lady.)


For my own personal safety when I began this series, the rule was,

no friends or relatives would be included, imagine the furor if I included

one but not all, there was in fact a slight conflict with one of my sons who

shall remain nameless, (but his name begins with Marcus.)

But for this post the rule has been suspended.


Alicia Sorahan (alias “the crocodile granny”)


Born in 1944 in Brisbane

Alicia was the 60 year old, slim built, trim little blonde lady, with the courage
of ten men, who, without a thought for her own safety, jumped on to the back
of a 4.2 metre long crocodile which was dragging a family friend off to a
certain death but for her intervention.

The crocodile, somewhat put out by this action, let go his grip on his chosen
victim, threw back his head to dislodge Alicia and grabbed her by the arm with
a new meal in mind.

This story has a happy ending for all but the crocodile, Alicia’s son Jason shot
and killed it before it managed to satisfy its own killing instincts.

Husband, Bill’s comment, “That’s good Alicia, you hold him while I get the
axe” demonstrates their spirit and sense of humor, (this comment was made
weeks later by the way, not at the time.)

This all took place on a beautiful lonely beach on Bathurst Bay in far north
Queensland
in October 2004

Alicia’s bravery received world wide coverage, including an interview with
Steve Irwin, Australia’s Crocodile Man, Steve praised the actions of the family
even though it left one of his favourite animals dead.

Alicia was also honored with the “Pride of Australia Award for Bravery.”

As for my breaking the rule, the Sorahan family, I am proud to say, are
personal friends of mine, but under exceptional circumstances such as these,
cannot be barred from my list because of this friendship.

We met in 1992, while fishing on the remote Keep River, (yes there were
crocodiles there,) and have been good friends ever since, were it not for my
marriage breakup, we may well have been with them on that fateful trip.

13 comments:

LZ Blogger said...

Great story Peter! It's OK to have friends who are heros too! ~ jb///

JunieRose2005 said...

Very brave lady!

Good it turned out well for all except the crocodile!

June

Karen said...

Incredibly brave lady and how wonderful that you have the honor of being a friend to her - and vice versa, I'm sure.

Thanks for sharing the story!

Have a great day!

Jamie Dawn said...

That is a great story of courage & quick thinking.
Remarkable!
That story confirms my fears about Australia being the land of crocks & sharks. If I ever visit, I will NOT be going swimming, except in a hotel pool.

Hale McKay said...

Hmm ... Did the family get some new belts, shoes , purses, etc.?
...Seriously, that is one quick thinking and brave lady.

Merle said...

Good story Peter. Did you send a copy to Alicia?
I think with your croc stories and my snake stories, we are scaring people off from visiting.
These occurences are rare, but
do leave an impression. cya soon.

Big Dave T said...

Wonder what you have to bring with you to ward off crocs? In America, you're supposed to wear bells to ward off bears when you're walking in the wilderness. But there down under, a croc may take it to be a dinner bell.

mreddie said...

Good story - brave lady! ec

kenju said...

She was brave - and very lucky!

Merle said...

Hi again Peter ~~ Why don't you
post the Poem you wrote for Alicia
It was quite a good one. Also the
one one for Gordon.

Cliff said...

There is a lady that we shouldn't mess with. A true hero. Glad you posted this Peter. Keep er up.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Crocs know no fury like a pissed off little old lady. What a gamer!

Anonymous said...

from mick sorahan UK
probably a distant relative!!

Where can I buy the shoes???

P.S., don't mess with the family!!