Hero bystander saves alligator trainer from attack in dramatic rescue
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A man leapt into action to save an alligator trainer when the animal attacked her at a children's birthday party.
Lindsay Bull, 31, an alligator trainer at Scales and Tails, a petting zoo in West Valley City, Utah, was feeding a 150-pound alligator when things took a terrifying turn: The gator, known as Darth Gator, bit down hard on her hand and began pulling her into its tank.
"Initially it was like, 'Oh, he bit me,' but then he really bit down, and that's when I realized, 'OK, this is going to be serious,'" Bull told NBC News in a segment that aired Tuesday on TODAY.
When the eight-and-a-half-foot-long reptile began thrashing Bull around in the water in what's known as the "death roll," a man in the crowd, Donnie Wiseman, leapt into action.
Related: The victim was taken to a hospital and later released after the attack at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
He jumped into the tank and onto the alligator's back, wrestling the reptile and trying to free Bull from its vice-like grip. Wiseman's wife, Theresa, caught the harrowing moment on video.
"I knew that if I didn't get in there and hold this animal down, he was going to tear her arm," Wiseman said.
Eventually, the creature loosened its hold on Bull's arm and she was able to escape. Wiseman, a construction worker who was visiting the petting zoo with his wife and stepson, also got away safely.
Bull went to the hospital with injuries to her hand. In an update posted on the Scales and Tails Facebook page, she said she is being "treated aggressively with antibiotics," and said that an orthopedic surgeon "was able to improvise and come up with a solution that should result in full use of my hand."
The petting zoo's Facebook page also thanked two other people who helped Bull throughout the incident, including one bystander with a nursing background who performed first aid until the EMTs arrived.
"He's a hero for having done what he did," Bull said of Wiseman. "I couldn't have gotten luckier with the people that were around."
Bull also said that once she recovers, she is excited to return to work.
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See video here. I had problems posting it.
Alligators have trainers now?
They are more like handlers.
I was trying to make a stupid joke...like every body has a trainer these days...at the gym
wrong audience. gym rats would love that joke. you can take care of the stupid jokes if I can have in bad taste, disgusting, and too soon.
you can have any of my stupid jokes you want...just treat them kindly
It's one of the perks of living at a petting zoo. They offered Darth a personal chef, but he refused, saying, "I'm my own personal chef...but I insist on being provided with 24/7 full cable on a big-AF-screen-TV, and some lady friends that don't want to get serious...if you know what I mean..."
Stupid? No way. Besides, it gave me a great lead-in on my own stupid joke.
you should have read the comment I deleted...
Twenty-seven words and not a single one of them is 'fluffer'.
Darth?
Good name for man-strangling alligator
Something similar happened at a little kids birthday party. Now that kid is going to be scarred for life
I think this was a kid's birthday party, but don't quote me on that.
First sentence in your seed.........
"A man leapt into action to save an alligator trainer when the animal attacked her at a children's birthday party."
You're right, my fault. I didn't read the article first.