Woman attacked by 2.5-metre 'Darth Gator' as kids watch on
An animal trainer has been filmed being attacked by an alligator in an enclosure as horrified children watch on.
The woman, 31, was performing a show for Scales and Tails Utah, in Salt Lake City in the US, at a children's birthday party on Saturday.
She is talking to the kids and approaching the alligator when the 2.5-metre, 68kg beast named “Darth Gator” latched onto her.
She had opened the door of the tank and the gator lunged forward. She tried to get it to back down but it clutches her hand in its jaws and pulls her into the water.
“We’ve got trouble in here,” a man yells.
The alligator thrashes violently and begins spinning in the water. It won’t let the woman go.
Donnie Wiseman, a bystander, leaps into the tank to help. He tries to free the woman as the gator stops briefly but it’s to no avail.
The alligator begins violently flailing again. Mr Wiseman mounts the alligator as a child cries, distraught over the attack.
A third man, identified as Todd Christopher, provides assistance and eventually the woman pulls her hand free of the alligator’s jaws, and she is lifted out of the tank.
Mr Wisemen continues to wrestle the thrashing alligator before he gets a chance to flee the tank.
The trainer, who hasn’t been named, told KSL-TV she suffered lacerations to her hand but is expected to fully recover from her injuries.
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Shane Richins, the owner of Scales and Tails, told the station it was a “very scary experience”.
He added Mr Wiseman, “probably saved her arm and possibly her life”.
She said in a statement, shared by the zoo on Facebook, she has seen an orthopaedic surgeon and is currently on antibiotics.
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