Charlie Buhl with his friends, Adlai and Nathan.Photo: Jennifer Buhl
AsPEOPLE exclusively reported, Charlie was staying at Club Med Cancún on June 18 with his momJennifer Buhland his younger brother Johnny when the scary incident unfolded.
Charlie Buhl after the attack.courtesy Jennifer Buhl
Though it was a traumatic experience for the 12-year-old, Charlie says he was actually the one to propose the crocodile costume idea to Adlai and Nathan for Halloween.
“Two years ago, Adlai and I built a giant cardboard spider and the two of us went in that for Halloween,” Charlie recalls. “But this year, Adlai said, ‘I really want to build [a costume] that the three of us can go in. How about a caterpillar?’ And I said, ‘What about a crocodile?’ "
Charlie Buhl with his friends, Adlai and Nathan, in the costume.Jennifer Buhl
The trio then got to building, constructing the massive costume with a variety of materials, including metal bars, PVC pipes and cardboard.
“We all built it. All of us did everything,” Charlie says. “It was fun once we finally came up with the idea. It was easier with more than one person because if you didn’t know how to do something, the others would help.”
“For example, we had to build a prototype to figure out how to connect the mouth to the body,” he continues. “We built the body and then we built a prototype for the head, then we build the head, and a prototype for the tail, then we build the tail.”
The final product ended up being a massive green crocodile that Charlie, Adlai and Nathan could each place their heads in as they walked in a line. The lifelike reptile also included a mouth with “sharp teeth” that had the ability to open and shut.
“The neighbors all said that we won Halloween,” Charlie shares. “But some little kids thought it was a dragon.”
Going trick-or-treating with his friends was another positive step forward in Charlie’s recovery process.
He previously told PEOPLE he is slowly working on regaining his leg mobility and getting back to playing soccer after the attack, which made him lose half his blood and at one point, had doctors concerned he would likely lose his leg altogether.
“I can walk and run with a limp… I can still kick the soccer ball, but I still can’t [play in] a game yet,” he explained.
RELATED VIDEO: 12-Year-Old Boy Recounts ‘Terrifying’ Crocodile Attack During Family Vacation at Mexico Resort
As he continues to recover, Charlie and Jennifer are on a mission to spread the word about crocodiles near resorts in Cancún.
“It’s a massive tourist attraction and there need to be warnings at the airports or hotels,” Jennifer told PEOPLE. “The lagoon also needs to be separated better from the people with so many crocodiles in there.”
Added Charlie: “I just want people to know that they can die in there… I’m not scared to talk about it [or] go to that same hotel again. But I would not sit on the same staircase because if I knew that there were crocodiles in there [and] I could have gotten bit, I wouldn’t have sat.”
source: people.com
