DELAND, Fla. -- A 16-year-old being dragged into a Central Florida lake by a large alligator used a tip he watched on the Discovery Channel to break free and likely save his life, according to a Local 6 News report.
Corey Workman was in a remote area of the St. John's River in Volusia County, Fla., just before midnight Saturday, throwing rocks and sticks into the water.
Authorities said a 6- to 8-foot-long alligator jumped out of the water, grabbed Workman's left foot and dragged him into the lake.
"He struggled with the alligator but could not get free until he remembered something he saw on the Discovery Channel about what to do if you are getting attacked by an alligator," Local 6 reporter Deborah Garcia said.
Workman poked the alligator in the eye with his thumb as he was told to do on the television show.
His mom said the lesson of poking at the alligator's eye saved her son's life, Garcia said.
"If he was every bitten by a shark, he (learned) to put his hand in its gills and if he was ever attacked by a gator, to take his thumb and poke his thumb all the way in his eye and the gator released him," mother Elisa Badger said. "Thank God he was able to maintain his composure and not panic. He knew exactly what to do."
Corey Workman was in a remote area of the St. John's River in Volusia County, Fla., just before midnight Saturday, throwing rocks and sticks into the water.
Authorities said a 6- to 8-foot-long alligator jumped out of the water, grabbed Workman's left foot and dragged him into the lake.
"He struggled with the alligator but could not get free until he remembered something he saw on the Discovery Channel about what to do if you are getting attacked by an alligator," Local 6 reporter Deborah Garcia said.
Workman poked the alligator in the eye with his thumb as he was told to do on the television show.
His mom said the lesson of poking at the alligator's eye saved her son's life, Garcia said.
"If he was every bitten by a shark, he (learned) to put his hand in its gills and if he was ever attacked by a gator, to take his thumb and poke his thumb all the way in his eye and the gator released him," mother Elisa Badger said. "Thank God he was able to maintain his composure and not panic. He knew exactly what to do."
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