Child chomped by crocodile dresses up as his reptile foe to celebrate surviving

 By Fiona Jackson via SWNS

A 12-year-old boy chomped by a crocodile while he was playing hide and seek is up on his feet again - and dressed up as the scaly enemy to celebrate his victory.

Charlie Buhl was ambushed by a huge croc while hiding underneath a staircase next to a lagoon during a game of hide-and-seek while on vacation in Cancún in June.

"I didn’t see it until it bit me, I didn’t see it until adults got there and they pulled me out and the crocodile was like hanging on my leg," Charlie said.

"Then I turned around and that’s when I first actually saw its face and it was just staring at me and it looked so mad. It was scary, it was too scary, so I just looked forward and away from it and I didn’t see it again after that.

"It felt like a metal clamp, it felt like plastic, like it didn’t feel real."

He lost half his blood during the attack and subsequent medical procedures, and it was feared he could lose his leg.

But after a terrifying month long stay at a hospital in Mexico, he and his family were sent home to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to recover.

Over four months later, the schoolboy decided to celebrate his victory against his attacker by dressing up as it for Halloween with his friends.

"It was just on my mind, I didn’t think about it - it was the first thought that came into my head," he said.

"I wouldn’t swim with them but I don't hate them or anything. They're cool and I did research about them, there's only 3,000 in America."

Charlie was vacationing with his mother Jennifer Buhl, 50, and younger brother Johnny, seven, at Club Med, an all-inclusive Mexican resort in Cancún, on June 18.

During a game of hide-and-seek with some other children, Charlie hid under a staircase by the lagoon with his vacation friend Cyrus, 13, at about 8:55pm.

All of a sudden, the 13-foot reptile latched onto his leg and dragged him into the water to the horror of of his new pal.

A group of men heard the children's' screams and rushed over to pull Charlie away from the croc's jaws while punching and kicking its head.

Eventually it released its grip and Charlie was lifted to safety on the lagoon deck.

Jennifer, who was eating dinner at a restaurant, was alerted to the incident and rushed over to see Charlie's body lying and praying he was still alive.

"As I was running towards him, I didn’t know if he would be alive or dead, I didn’t know if he would even be there or if he’d been taken away," she said.

"When I saw him and heard him screaming I just dove on him and his chest was open and he was warm and I was comforted by that, that he was alive and warm.

"I glanced down at his leg and it looked like a piece was missing and blood everywhere but I guess I just started praying because there was not much to do.

"He was screaming 'Mummy it hurts so bad.' I was still worried he was going to bleed out."

About 30 minutes later, Charlie was whisked to Hospital Amerimed for emergency surgery, after it was found his lower leg was severely damaged and at risk of amputation.

"The doctor came and told me in a very dire voice that his leg was crushed and he would likely lose a limb," Jennifer recalled.

"That was the first I'd heard of that at that point, I was really upset of course but I was also just like save his life. We can worry about a robot leg later, as Johnny called it!"

In the encounter with the crocodile and the subsequent surgery to repair his limb by stapling an open skin flap, surgeons say Charlie lost of about half his blood.

"During surgery the idea of them sawing off his leg was horrible, I didn't know what was going back there," Jennifer said.

"It looked like a puzzle as it was put back together."

He remained in hospital for four weeks having his wounds regularly cleaned to prevent infection, and Jennifer says all costs were covered by the Club Med resort.

The mom-of-two is calling for more safety measurements to be put in place at lagoons that are home to the potentially dangerous reptiles to protect tourists.

She claims there were no signs posted to warn of crocodiles and a gate leading to the dock stairs where Charlie was attacked didn't have a lock.

The headshot photographer said: "By most people's accounts, crocodiles are overpopulated, eating out the lagoon of birds and fish and are now looking elsewhere for food.

"The resorts are literally built on top of the lagoon so there aren't proper barriers, there aren't proper signs and no one has any.

"Charlie wasn’t in the water, the crocodile jumped up. You need proper barriers between wild animals and humans but of course they’re God's creatures.

"They're still creatures of this world and we respect all animals."

According to Jennifer, Club Med Cancún has invested $200,000 to secure the area around the lagoon with guards and signage and water skiing has been permanently suspended at the resort.

Charlie also doesn't want to see other children have as similar - or worse - fate to him when enjoying a vacation by the water.

"I knew there were crocodiles in the lagoon but I didn’t know they would jump out at me," he said.

"Always think you're in danger of crocodiles."

The football fan is now able to walk and run, but he does so with a limp and is not sure if it will ever properly heal.

"He has shooting nerve pain daily and he still can't play sports," Jennifer said.

"His leg is extremely sensitive, he kind of screeches if I touch it, so he is doing really well but he'll never have the same body."

In spite of this, the boy managed to go trick-or-treating dressed as none other than a crocodile.

He spent 11 hours building the costume with two of his friends using metal, PVC pipes and cardboard, and even had rows of sharp teeth that were displayed by opening and closing the jaws.

His mom was a little more sceptical.

"I was a little more like 'what?' I was a little more traumatized mentally I think," she said.

"I still struggle with bad dreams and PTSD as we process the trauma.

"I'm glad Halloween's over!