DAPHNE, Ala. (NewsNation Now) — Two women say they were terrorized by a large alligator while kayaking on a lake in Daphne, Alabama Saturday afternoon.
The women say they were enjoying the day out on Lake Forest when something overturned one of their kayaks. Michelle Hartley swam quickly over to her friend’s kayak and hopped on. Moments later, she says a large alligator went beneath the kayak and flipped it over, too.
Both women were treading water and trying to get back to land. They said the alligator was in a standoff with them, not letting them get back to safety.
“I kept thinking I was going to die out there. Somebody tell me kids and my husband that I love them. It was crazy,” Michelle Hartley said.
A woman on a nearby balcony called 911. Firefighters tossed a rope out to pull one of the women from the water. They estimate the alligator was about 14 feet long. They say they’ve never spotted the alligator in the lake and they believe it had entered through D’Olive Creek after Hurricane Sally.