King’s Medal for the twin who fought the crocodile against his sister

A woman who saved her twin sister from a crocodile attack by beating her will receive a King’s Gallantry Medal.

Georgia Laurie, 31, from Sandhurst, repeatedly punched the reptile in the face after it attacked Melissa while she was swimming in Mexico in June 2021.

The twins were treated at the hospital, where Melissa developed sepsis and fell into a medically induced coma.

Georgia said: “I feel really privileged, it’s a silver lining to have come out of this terrible ordeal.”

After finding out she had been included in the king’s first civilian gallantry list, she said: “It’s an honour, I was so shocked when I received the letter because I didn’t see it coming, I wasn’t expecting it .”

“What makes this story so incredible is Melissa’s unwavering courage because she was so strong through it and I don’t think I would be here without her. She really gave me the strength to keep fighting.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Melissa said: “It all happened very quickly.”

“When I was bitten and dragged under the water I thought… ‘This is it, I’m an idiot’.”

“When I was on the boat, I felt myself losing our connection. I said, ‘Hug me, Georgia, hug me, I’m dying’… I bit her shoulder to stay connected to her.

“She sang Stand By Me and Don’t Worry About A Thing – she sang them over and over to calm me down. She was so brave.”

After the attack almost three years ago, Melissa suffered an open fracture to her wrist, severe bite wounds to her stomach and many to her leg and foot, while Georgia was bitten on the hand.

Georgia added: “The further away it gets, the less real it feels.”

“But then something like this happens and it puts everything back into perspective. Wow, that actually happened, it’s a crazy story.”

“Because if you think about it, it sounds like a horror movie, but it’s a part of our lives, it’s part of the tapestry of our lives.”

“We are much closer now because of what happened – our connection was broken when I thought she had died.”

The Berkshire twins were swimming in a lagoon near Puerto Escondido during a guided river tour to see the water glow with bioluminescence when the crocodile attacked.

Bioluminescence is the light that some living things, such as plankton, emit from their cells

They had been in Mexico in June 2021 to volunteer, work in animal shelters and travel.

They hope to raise over £4,000 through the endurance swim between Henley-on-Thames and Marlow.