A teenager in Florida was attacked by a 10-foot alligator and survived after fighting back.
According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, 15-year-old Summer Hinote suffered a bite on her leg from an alligator. The creature pulled her underwater and thrashed her intensely, as she recounted to local FOX 35.
“I began hitting it on the head with all my strength. It released me, but then grabbed me again,” Hinote shared. “On the second occasion it released and seized me once more, it dragged me beneath the water and violently shook my leg.”
The incident happened in Pond Creek, Florida, on June 22 about 25 miles away from Destin.
Summer Hinote is expected to survive after she was attacked by an alligator. (FOX 35)
Hinote said that at one point, the alligator let go of her just to get a better grip.
“Whenever he let go, I had started running up. And I had gotten up out of the water,” she said.
Basking American alligators in the Everglades. (Getty Images)
Hinote was able to break free of the alligator’s control with a friend’s help.
The teenager’s leg suffered severe injuries, but it did not need to be amputated, officials said.
