Juliana Ossa, 10, was swimming in a Florida lake Sunday when, out of nowhere, a nine-foot alligator attacked her.
She screamed in pain as the gator took hold of her leg but she was able to pry open his mouth and take her leg out. Emilio Aquino heard her in the water and ran to help her.
“A group of people were swimming in the lake and a little girl about 10 years old started screaming,” said Aquino, who helped the injured girl. “I realized that she was screaming that she got bit by an alligator. At this point I couldn’t see anything but a couple of seconds later, I saw the alligator so I ran towards the water.”
Ossa was pulled to safety and two lifeguards bandaged her bleeding leg. Ossa was able to walk after she got ten stitches in her leg.
“Got the child out of the water real quick. Grabbed the child, notified everybody to get out of the water, while the lifeguards were blowing the whistles. It was just a joint effort by the patrons,” said Matt Suedmeyer of Orange County Parks and Recreation.
The gator was captured and euthanized after the attack.
