Photo: Getty Images-Robert Loe
A 13-year-old boy in Florida is recovering after he successfully fended off an attacking alligator.
The incident occurred last week in Winter Springs, where Gabriel Klimis was swimming in Howell Creek with his brother, according to the Seminole County Fire Department. That’s when Klimis felt a sharp pain in his leg. "The gator kind of just grabbed me from there, and then once he wrapped his jaws on me, I knew that there was no getting out," Klimis says. As the gator began to pull the teen underwater, Klimis knew he had to take action – so he started punching the giant reptile in the head, he says. Surprisingly, it worked. The gator let go and Klimis swam back to shore, he says.
Unprovoked alligator attacks are rare occurrences in the state, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Over the past 10 years, there have been an annual average of eight gator attacks a year – at least when counting those that need medical attention, the commission reports.
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