San Jose: An American surfer was being treated in a Costa Rican hospital on Sunday after being attacked by a crocodile so severely half a leg had to be amputated. The man, identified as Jonathan Becker, 59 and from Arizona, was set upon by the crocodile on Friday while crossing a river between beaches in Tamarindo, in Costa Rica.

He managed to fight the reptile off and make it to shore, where local surfers helped him before he was taken to hospital. The crocodile ripped flesh from the calf of his right leg, resulting in wounds so serious it had to be partially amputated.