Houston man recovering after crocodile attack in Cancun

HOUSTON – There are 200 stitches in his head, metal plates and screws are holding his jaw together.

Jonathan Schoeneman was attacked by a 13-foot crocodile while spearfishing in a lagoon in Cancun, Mexico.

“I kind of saw him, he was so big,” Schoeneman told KPRC Channel 2. “He just snapped on my head.”

Schoeneman, 34, grew up in the Houston area, but lives and works full time in Cancun. He had seen the crocodile before. He has been fishing and swimming in that area for 30 years.

“I’ve been seeing it for years,” he said. “Years and years. It’s never bothered me.”

On Sept. 1, the crocodile decided to attack, and Schoeneman found himself in the fight of his life.

“I just got this hand and kept punching it inside the mouth,” he said. “And then with this hand I was hooking his eyes. I could hear my bones cracking, just cracking all the time.”

The crocodile was crushing Schoeneman’s skull. He was able to grab hold of a tree branch, he started hitting the animal until it finally let go and swam away.

Badly injured, a friend helped Schoeneman back to their boat and they rushed back to shore.

He spent 12 days in a Mexican hospital and credits the doctors there for saving his life.

He will need some plastic surgery, but is expected to make a full recovery. Schoeneman flew to Houston on Tuesday so he can meet with doctors and recuperate at his parents’ home in Fulshear.

Schoeneman grew up in the Houston area but his mom is from Mexico. They spent a lot of time in Cancun when he was young and he spent every summer there as a teenager.

Now, Schoeneman lives in Cancun and works as a fisherman and SCUBA diving instructor.

He tells Channel 2 he can’t wait to get back home and he does plan to get back in the water.

“This does not scare me at all. I’ve been lost at sea, almost drowned countless times, I’ll never stop,” Schoeneman said.