Florida 10-year-old escapes alligator attack using trick from wildlife theme park



ORLANDO, Florida -- A 10-year-old girl is recovering after she managed to fight off an alligator who attacked her at a Florida park on Saturday, May 6th.

The girl was sitting in two-foot-deep water in a designated swim area at Lake Mary Jane in Orange County when an alligator attacked her, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials told WFTV.

To fight off the roughly nine-foot gator, the girl started poking it in the nose and then pried the gator's mouth open to remove her leg, she told officials.

Her father said she learned the trick at Gatorland, a theme park and wildlife preserve in Orlando.

"To get an animal with the strongest bite on the planet to let go of you is a miracle," Gatorland spokesman Donald Aldarelli told WFTV. "I'm just happy that she heard it here."



The girl was transported to a hospital where she received at least 10 stitches, her father told WFTV. She is recovering at home.

The alligator was captured and euthanized after the attack, officials told WFTV. Officials have also closed the waterfront as a precaution.