Andrew Hudson says he was swimming with friends in the Little Econ River when he was attacked by gator. (MyFoxOrlando.com)
Well, the kid's a fighter.
Andrew Hudson, the Florida teenager who fought off an alligator Monday as he swam in the Little Big Econ State Forest, located just south of Geneva, told MyFoxOrlando.com he intends to graduate high school and join the Marines.
"I always have ever since I was little, and I accept the challenge and join the Marines. It's always what I've wanted to do," he said.
His dream of being a Marine was almost cut short by a 9-foot-long alligator that attacked Hudson from behind, bit his head and took him under the grassy waters of the river.
Hudson told the station that he felt the pressure on his head and the gator’s body next to his. At that point, he unloaded a few punches on the gator. The gator released him and Hudson made his escape.
"My head hurt like crazy, and there was blood dripping everywhere. I could feel this. This was the worst one. It was the more open one that was just gushing blood and getting in my eyes and everything. Then I just took my shorts off and wrapped them around my head to try and stop the bleeding."
Eventually, he was taken to South Seminole Hospital in Longwood and given 23 stitches and 17 staples to his head with two of the stitches being for a puncture wound from a gator tooth in his upper back. As Hudson looks back on what happened, he feels fortunate.
"I stayed calm because if I started freaking out it would have uh, could have went south."
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