Girl 'jabs' ALLIGATOR to free herself from its jaws in 'miracle' escape
A QUICK-thinking 10-year-old freed herself from the jaws of a giant alligator using a technique learned during a show at a nearby theme park, wildlife officials have revealed.
10-year-old girl pries open alligator’s mouth to free leg
The youngster was in a shallow designated swimming area in Lake Mary Jane in Orlando, Florida with other members of the family when the 9ft long reptile reared up and clamped its jaws around her calf and knee.
But using a trick she had been told about at the Gatorland theme park, the girl coolly jabbed the reptile in its nostrils with her fingers and broke free when it opened its mouth.
Her father drove her to the Nemours Children's Hospital, where she was released after 10 stitches.
A 10-year-old girl freed herself from the jaws of a giant alligator
The 9ft long alligator clamped its jaws around her calf and knee
The creature was captured and killed by a trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
To get an animal with the strongest bite on the planet to let go of you is a miracle
Experts praised the girl's presence of mind.
Gatorland spokesperson Donald Aldarelli said: “To get an animal with the strongest bite on the planet to let go of you is a miracle.
“I'm just happy that she heard it here."
The creature was captured and killed by a trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission
10-year-old girl ESCAPES alligator who bit her leg
The lake inside Moss Park, a popular spot for swimming and boating, has been closed until further notice “out of an abundance of caution,” Orlando park officials said.
In the most recent fatal alligator attack recorded in Florida, Lane Graves, a two-year-old-boy from Nebraska on holiday with his family at Disney World, was snatched and drowned in June last year.