A FAMILY has revealed their horror after their teen daughter was bitten by an alligator in clear, shallow water and dragged under in an instant.
Summer Hinote, 15, was bitten by the animal in waist-deep water and violently shaken, Walton County Sheriff’s Office in Florida confirmed.
“I just started punching it in the head as hard as I could. And he had let go and then grabbed me again,” the teen told local Fox affiliate WOFL-TV.
“And the second time that he let go and grabbed me, he had drug me underneath the water. And he like shook my leg around.”
The attack happened on June 22 in Pond Creek, about 300 miles west of Jacksonville.
Hinote told the outlet she was swimming when she “felt something brush up against me.”
“I had felt something latch onto my leg,” she said.
“I didn’t know what it was at first, so I just turned my body around and started punching it in the head.”
That’s when the alligator attacked her and even let her go at one point just to get a better grip.
“It had like let go and then grabbed again and then dragged me underneath the water and then shook me around,” said Hinote.
Hinote was able to break free from the alligator’s grasp and a friend pulled her out of the water.
“I hit the ground. I laid down on the ground because I couldn’t run for real and I just started praying,” the teen said.
During the chaos, Hinote asked her friend if she still had her leg.
“And he was like, ‘Yes, like you’re fine, you’re fine, it’s not that bad,’” she said.
But Hinote and her friend had to act fast as the gator kept following the two of them.
“So, he needed to grab me and my other friend, as my other friend was panicking, and sprint up the bank… because it’s elevated compared to the rest, making it difficult for the gator to really climb,” she explained.
The teens grabbed their other friend to call Summer‘s mom, Shree, who immediately jumped in her car and called 911.
Once Shree Hinote arrived, she loaded Summer in her truck and raced to meet first responders.
Officials believe the gator was at least 10 feet long based on the size of the bite.
“People were saying that we were provoking the gator, which was not true at all,” said Summer.
“Because it snuck up from behind me and none of us even knew that he was there.”
She mentioned that none of her group would ever interfere with wildlife, having been raised around nature and understanding the risks posed by these animals.
Summer suffered severe leg injuries; however, officials say it didn’t need to be amputated.
Photos show deep bite marks in Hinote’s thigh as blood drips down her leg, but the teen was all smiles in a picture with her doctor.
