Horror as mom’s leg is savaged by an 8ft ALLIGATOR as she swam in her own lake – as she reveals the incredible way she escaped
- Rachel Thompson was going about her daily routine when she took a dip
- When she got out of the river she discovered the alligator and was attacked
- Thompson could not stop the attack until the damage was done
A Florida woman is celebrating her good fortune after she was supposed to take a refreshing dip in a local river, only to be brutally attacked by alligators.
Rachel Thompson was doing her daily morning routine of yoga and jogging when she headed to the Hillsborough River, near her home in Temple Terrace.
When she got out of the river she spotted the alligator and was immediately attacked.
“The moment I saw his head, it was just a split second before I saw his head and he grabbed my leg,” Thompson said.
Thompson tried everything she could to stop the gator: she grabbed a rock and hit it. The gator continued to attack her until she miraculously escaped.
A Florida woman is counting her blessings after what should have been a refreshing dip in a local river ended in a brutal alligator attack
Rachel Thompson was doing her daily morning routine of yoga and jogging when she went to the Hillsborough River, near her home in Temple Terrace. When she got out of the river, she spotted the alligator and was immediately attacked
She slowly noticed that her resistance was starting to decrease.
“I realized that no matter how hard I tried to pull, I was losing ground,” she said Bay News 9.
“He managed to gain more and more ground and gradually pull me further into the middle of the river, into deeper water,” she added.
Thompson’s escape method was shocking but effective.
‘In my desperation I placed my hands on either side of his jaws and pried them open.’
Thompson was lucky that her son found her and she was eventually taken to the nearest hospital by a neighbor.
Doctors saw that Thompson’s leg was in bad shape and became concerned about a possible infection.
She had surgery on her broken leg and will probably be able to go home on Saturday.
Doctors noticed that Thompson’s leg was in poor condition and were concerned about a possible infection
She has undergone surgery on her broken leg and may be out of action as early as Saturday.
Thompson is still at risk for infection, but she is grateful to be able to leave at all.
“I wasn’t ready to leave my family,” she said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the attack.
They say it is rare for an alligator to attack or pose a threat to a human.
Most often, attacks occur “when people fail to pay attention to their surroundings while working or recreating near water.”