A woman wins a fight with a 400-kilogram alligator (video)

46-year-old Rachel Thompson from the American state of Florida managed to free herself from the jaws of a huge alligator.

The 400-kilogram predator grabbed the woman by the leg, but desperately fighting for her life, Rachel managed to loosen its tenacious grip and free herself, tells Washington Post: It all happened on the Gillsborough River, where the victim has lived for six years.

All these years, the woman watched with interest the female alligator living in the pond nearby, calling her Sylvia. But… one day, a huge male appeared near her. Beginning in the summer of 2023, Rachel watched the pair. She said:

“It's like National Geographic in our backyard.”

In mid-June, an alligator dragged an opossum carcass off the bank, and a few days later, Rachel saw that the male had a cut on his face and named him Scar. On the Fourth of July, the US Independence Day, Rachel was doing her morning exercises outdoors, after which she decided to take a quick refreshing dip in the river before waking her 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter for breakfast.

While in the water, she saw a ripple in her peripheral vision that appeared “out of nowhere.” Suddenly, the head of a giant alligator appeared in that spot. She had no chance of getting to shore, as the animal was too close. The 400-kilogram predator sank its teeth into her right shin and dragged her away from the shore. The woman recalls:

“It sounded like a potato chip crunching.”

Rachel's scream woke her son in the house. She grabbed the nearest rock, trying to hold on, but the alligator's strong tug pulled her away from the shore. Then the woman remembered the wound on Scar's face and hit him with all her might in the sore spot. She knew that the next tug would be fatal for her. Rachel remembers those terrible seconds:

“Then I screamed and used all my strength to grab his upper and lower jaws and spread them as hard as I could.”

At some point, Rachel felt her leg come free and, pushing the alligator away, she rushed away from him to the shore. According to the woman’s calculations, the last stage of the “battle” lasted about 30 seconds. She hobbled to the barn and pressed a towel to the wound, stopping the bleeding. Her son brought her a phone, and Rachel called a friend, who took her to the hospital.

Doctors expected the woman to have multiple surgeries and skin grafts, but the wound, fortunately, was not that serious. Doctors diagnosed a fracture and a lot of muscle damage, but the alligator did not tear off the skin or damage any major nerves. It will be a while, Rachel says, before she can get back into the river:

“It's unpleasant, but when the pain makes me feel sick, I remind myself: 'I'm alive! I have a leg!'

State wildlife officials euthanized the 900-pound alligator that bit her. Officials estimate there are about 1.3 million alligators living throughout Florida, which are in constant “conflict” with humans.

It is difficult to say what was the decisive factor in this fight – maternal instinct and fear of leaving children orphans, self-control or thirst for life. Another thing is important: in this battle between a huge predator and a weak woman, man won. This is not always the case.

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