Media Luna (Colombia) - A guy from South America had a pretty diligent guardian angel. The man was taking a refreshing dip in a river when he suddenly had an unpleasant encounter with an inhabitant of the cool water. This swim almost ended in tragedy!

A viral video shows the unknown man from Colombia being filmed by a friend enjoying himself in a river in Media Luna. At first, he splashes around in the murky waters, unaware of what lurks in the river.

What the bather felt on his leg seconds later made him stop laughing: In the clip, you can see how the man is suddenly distracted by something in the water.

As he can't see anything in the muddy river, he finally reaches down courageously and suddenly pulls a crocodile to the surface, much to his own horror and that of his friends.

The animal had obviously promised itself a tasty lunch and approached silently.

After the man had thrown the reptile back into the water, screaming, he rushed to his friends' boat in a panic and climbed aboard as quickly as he could.

He was very lucky that he was able to grab the predator in time and that it was only a small specimen.

The video has already been viewed over 22 million times on Instagram. Anyone who, like the users, is not in the shoes of the man in the crocodile river can of course only laugh at the situation.

One user comments dryly: "Congratulations, you've been given another chance to live your life."