Gruesome animal attacks quite often make the headlines, with devastating outcomes. However, a young girl from Orlando managed to escape what would have been her last moments by using a trick she learned from an alligator-themed amusement park. Here is what happened.
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Julianna saved herself from an alligator attack
Once an alligator has managed to catch you in their fangs, there is not much you can do to make it let go. Young Juliana Ossa was swimming in a two-feet-deep pond in Orlando on 20th April 2017, when she narrowly escaped a gruesome alligator attack. All of a sudden, the animal bit her and kept holding her legs in its jaws.
According to Unilad, alligators usually kill their victims by biting them and holding them down as they descend into the water. Luckily for young Juliana, she knew just the trick to convince the animal to let go of her. She told NBC Today how she learned the useful technique from her trip to an alligator-themed amusement park earlier, called Gatorland.
I tried hitting it on its forehead to let me go. That didn't work, so I thought of a plan they taught in Gatorland.
She learned the trick from an amusement park
During her visit to Gatorland, Juliana saw a man wrestling an alligator and teaching the viewers how to save yourself from an attack. She recalls:
I stuck my two fingers up its nose so it couldn't breathe — it had to be from its mouth — and he opened it, so it let my leg out.
This is a really smart technique, as alligators are too strong to even flinch when you hit them, but like any other animal, they need to breathe. Juliana's incredible bravery earned her applause from around the world. She told NBC:
I was scared at first, but I knew what to do.
As the alligator released Juliana, her uncle rushed to the shore and pulled her out of the water, noticing her injuries. She was taken to the hospital and was allowed to go home after a few days, with several bandages tightly wrapped around her leg. The amusement park also spoke out on the unbelievable story on their official Facebook account, saying:
We here at Gatorland would like to send our thoughts and prayers out to Juliana & her family. We are happy to hear she is home. We wish her a speedy recovery.
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Sources used:
Unilad: Girl, 10, saved herself from being eaten by alligator using trick she learned at gator-themed amusement park
NBC Today: 10-Year-Old Florida Girl Pries Leg From Alligator's Mouth