Terrible moment: An alligator grabbed a woman in its mouth and dragged her into the water as horror attacks shook the community

A SURVIVOR of an alligator attack has shared the details of the harrowing moment she was bitten and nearly killed by the beast near her home.

Elsie Kyle took her beloved Chihuahua dachshund dog Lulu for a walk near the lake of her condominium in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in September 2021.

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As they were strolling along the shore, a large alligator rushed out of the water and chased the dog, she said telegraph On Monday.

The 82-year-old tried to flee, but the 10-foot alligator was too fast.

“I tried to run away, but I lost my footing. The alligator jumped out of the water and bit my legs. That was the first bite,” she said.

“I was so shocked I didn’t feel any pain. It sounded like a huge bang,” she said.

The alligator dragged Kyle into the water and attempted a death roll – a signature move that sees the alligator violently roll over to drown and disorient its victim – in an attempt to kill her.

But Kyle was able to stab the alligator in the eye to stop it rolling, she said, and continue to yell for help.

Incredibly, her neighbors Mary Montour and Layne Carver heard her screams and immediately came to her rescue.

Montour heard Kyle scream that “an alligator is biting my leg off,” she told him Hilton Head Monthlyas she ran outside to help.

When Montour and Carver reached Kyle, Montour began pulling on her arms and Carver, who had grabbed a spade on the way to the lake, began hitting the alligator on the head with the gardening tool.

The “Alligator had her pretty good,” Carver said, but the punches let Kyle go of him long enough for them to pull her out of harm’s way.

Kyle was brought close hospital where doctors thought she would lose her legs or even die from her injuries.

Her dog, Lulu, escaped unharmed.

But after multiple surgeries and months in the hospital, Kyle survived unharmed — although she can no longer walk unaided or live on her own.

“I can’t tell you what I’ve been through. The alligator didn’t kill me, but it certainly took what was left of normal life,” she told the Telegraph.

Although more and more people have reported interactions with alligators in recent years, alligator attacks have historically been extremely rare.

But experts fear that could change.

Kyle was attacked by another 69-year-old senior just a few miles away HollyJenkinswas killed by a 10ft alligator last month.

“I would have been if my neighbors hadn’t been there,” Kyle said.

“I can’t imagine what this poor woman has Family goes through.”

An 88-year-old woman was killed by a 9-foot alligator in the same county, South Carolina gardening at the lake near her home on the island in August 2022.

And a surveillance camera captured the moment when 85-year-old Gloria Serge was attacked and killed by a large alligator in Florida in February.