Florida Teenager Fights Off 10-Foot Alligator: “I Just Started Punching”

Florida Man and Florida Woman have nothing on this Florida Teen.

At the end of June in Pond Creek, Florida, which is located about 25 miles from Destin, Florida, a local teenager was viciously attacked by an alligator. Summer Hinote, 15, was wading in a creek in waist-deep water (something I don’t think I’m ever doing in Florida) with some friends when the unthinkable happened. A 10-foot alligator latched onto her leg.

Hinote said that pure instinct kicked in at that moment, and she was not going to let this beast win.

She recalled, according to the New York Post:

“I just started punching it in the head as hard as I could. And he had let go and then grabbed me again. 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.”

After Hinote was able to get away, she scrambled to the creek bank and asked her friend if her leg was still intact.

“He said, ‘You’re fine, you’re fine, it’s not that bad, but you have to get up. He’s coming up from behind you.'”

As they saw the alligator coming for another pass, one of Hinote’s friends picked her up and helped the other girls up to the hill, where the alligator could not reach them. Hinote’s friend then called her mother to inform her of the accident, and she was taken to meet first responders at the hospital.

Doctors and nurses speculate the gator was at least 10 feet in size based on the size of the bite.

Florida Alligator Attacks

Florida is home to over 1.3 million alligators, and while attacks on humans are actually quite rare, they do happen. Especially in warm months when gators are more active. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there have been about 400 unprovoked alligator bites in the state since 1948… which means about 5 a year, and most only require minor medical attention.

Fatal attacks are extremely rare with recent data showing only 26 fatalities have occurred in Florida over more than 75 years.

Most attacks happen when people are swimming in or near freshwater bodies of water, or walking pets near the water’s edge. And in a few cases, people have been trying to feed alligators. Why? Not sure  can understand that one. It’s also illegal.

Bite Power

Alligators have one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom. The bite force of a large adult Florida alligator has been measured at over 2,100 pounds per square inch, which is more powerful than a lion or bear, and second only to saltwater crocodiles.

However, their jaw opening strength is weak—which is why handlers can hold their mouths shut with tape. An adult gator can crush bones and snap limbs with a single bite, making it vital to stay cautious around them, especially near water bodies in Florida.

Safe to say Summer Hinote is one lucky girl.The post Florida Teenager Fights Off 10-Foot Alligator: “I Just Started Punching” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.