Florida teen fights off alligator that dragged her underwater

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A teenager in Florida was attacked by a 10-foot alligator and survived after fighting back.

The Walton County Sheriff's Office said 15-year-old Summer Hinote was bitten by the alligator on her leg. The alligator took her underwater and was shaking her violently, she told local FOX 35.

"I just started punching it in the head as hard as I could. And he had let go and and then grabbed me again," Hinote said. "And the second time that he let go and grabbed me, he had drug me underneath the water. And he like shook my leg around."

The incident happened in Pond Creek, Florida, on June 22 about 25 miles away from Destin.

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The teenager said she was swimming when she "felt something brush up against me."

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Hinote said that at one point, the alligator let go of her just to get a better grip.

"Whenever he let go, I had started running up. And I had gotten up out of the water," she said.

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Hinote was able to break free of the alligator's control with a friend's help.

The teenager's leg suffered severe injuries, but it did not need to be amputated, officials said. 

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