12 year old Boy Punches Alligator and Escapes (no pics)
 

DELTONA, Fla. - An alligator dragged a 12-year-old swimmer underwater in a lake, but the boy punched the reptile and swam safely to shore.

Malcolm Locke was treated for cuts and scrapes that were not considered life threatening.

He was bit while swimming Wednesday in Lake Diana, near his grandmother's house just north of Orlando.

He saw the alligator's tail first, he said. "It was coming right at me," he told NBC's "Today" show Thursday.

Malcolm, who is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, tried to swim away, but the alligator, which was 4 to 6 feet long, attacked his head and pulled him under water, officials said.

"It took a bite out of my head and a big chunk out of my ear," Malcolm said.

He punched the alligator, and "it just squirmed away," he said. He swam to shore, and a neighbor drove him to a hospital.

A trapper was sent to the lake to remove the alligator.

The boy's mother, Misty Warren, said the family has seen alligators in the area before, but none had ever bothered them.

The best thing to do during an alligator attack is struggle, make noise and create confusion, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"Malcolm did the right thing," Hill said. "He fought the alligator and it let him go."

i saw him on the news this morning..his head was all bandaged up.

thought it was pretty cool, i imagine most people would have just panicked and been done for.

i was just watching that...those old dinosuars can be pesky sometimes. I never swam in anything but the ocean in florida.

I still don't understand swimming where there are alligators I have friends that do it but I think It's crazy

Props to him for fighting back and not being overcome with fear! :thumbsup

a little tyson maybe?

Me either but some people swim with sharks :helpme