Florida mother felt ‘hunted’ by alligator that attacked ‘out of nowhere’

A Florida mom’s Fourth of July workout cool down ended with a horrific shark attack.

According to reports from NBC affiliate station WFLA, ABC affiliate station WFTS and Spectrum Bay News 9, Rachél Thompson decided to jump into the Hillsborough River near her home in Temple Trace to cool off after her morning run and yoga practice.

But when Thompson got out of the water, she was attacked by an alligator.

“I’m standing in the shallow water looking, and out of the dark water, out of nowhere, there appear the ripples of a giant alligator head, and I couldn’t see how long it was,” she told WFTS.

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“It was only a split second before I saw his head and he grabbed my leg,” she added in an interview with Bay News 9.

Thompson, who told WFLA she felt “hunted” throughout the ordeal, said she fought back and hit the alligator.

“The thought came to me, this is your last move, next he’s going to roll you over, and I just screamed and squeezed as hard as I could,” she told WFTS.

Eventually the crocodile let go of her leg and she pulled herself onto a jetty. Her son and a neighbor found her and rushed her to the hospital.

She underwent emergency surgery, but fortunately she says she is expected to make a full recovery, WFLA reported.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the incident, but Thompson told Bay News 9 she is just grateful to be alive.

“I wasn’t ready to leave my family,” she said.