A Port Macquarie local has recounted his harrowing experience of almost being drowned by a “very muscly” kangaroo, as intense floods continue to devastate New South Wales’ mid-north coast.
The incident kicked off on Friday, when Don James said he was warning passerbys of a large kangaroo located in a carpark in Port Macquarie’s North Shore.
According to onlooker Kirsty Lees, who spoke to the ABC, the kangaroo soon became aggressive to the point where James and the animal “literally got into a boxing match”.
“I’m looking in the rear-view mirror and they are throwing punches,” Lees recalled.
After attempting to move away from the marsupial, which Lees said was “as big as the car” next to it, James tripped and fell into a flooded area, where yet more trouble awaited him.
Lees said the concerned ‘roo “tried to drown the man” and was “holding him down” under the water, saying it wasn’t until another onlooker came to James’ assistance that he was freed.
“I just remember being under water and kicking and screaming and carrying on,” James recalled of the incident to the ABC.
While the local said the experience was “pretty traumatic for a while there”, he understood the animal was distressed and said kangaroos have a “very strong instinct [to] go to water if they’re threatened by a predator”.
It’s not the first time kangaroos — which are known as strong swimmers who will retreat to water when threatened — have caused this kind of drama.
Just last month, footage of a kangaroo almost drowning a dog in Canberra’s Fadden Pond went viral on social media, though neither animal was harmed in that instance.
James’ near-death experience comes as large swathes of the state’s mid-north coast — including Taree, Kempsey, Nambucca Heads, Port Macquarie, and Coffs Harbour — continue to be inundated by flood waters.
Tragically, five people have died amid the natural disaster, with some 50,000 residents left isolated after a powerful weather system dumped months’ worth of rain in just three days.
Relief efforts are currently underway, with those residents impacted by the floods now able to access the federal Disaster Recovery Allowance.
For a full list of flood warnings in NSW, click HERE.
Lead image: Recep Ay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images and AAP Images
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