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CROC HORROR
Twins crocodile attack: Brit woman fought off croc to save sister and joked ‘I’m like Crocodile Dundee!’
THE British woman who fought off a croc three times in a Mexican river to save her twin sister laughed off the heroics and joked: “I’m like Crocodile Dundee!”
Georgia Laurie, 28, told of her horror at seeing the 7ft beast grab her sister Melissa by the leg and drag her into a death roll — the animal’s violent, rapid and usually fatal twisting of prey in its jaws.
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She said: “It was trying to take her away. I punched it in the nose with both fists and it felt hard, like hitting a table, but it scared it off.”
The sisters were among a group of 25 tourists who last Sunday were taken by an unlicensed guide — named locally as a German backpacker called Richie — to an area of the Manialtepec lagoon which is known for nesting crocs.
Georgia said: “No one warned us there were crocodiles there at all. We hadn’t been drinking, there was no alcohol involved.
“We were just there for a chill-out. Melissa swam off by herself and got into trouble. I didn’t know what was happening but I swam towards her.”
Georgia, a qualified diver, then spotted a large crocodile in the water and saw her sister being thrown about by the animal.
She said: “I saw her getting jerked around and I saw a croc’s head which was about two feet long. The croc swam off, but kept coming back.
‘I’M DROWNING’
“That’s when it grabbed her by the leg and got her in a death roll. She went round and round and it was trying to drag her away.
“I was pounding it, and that’s when it grabbed me and bit my arm. I bashed it with the other hand and it let me go. That happened three times.
“The croc battle seemed to go on a long time but adrenalin had kicked in.”
As the twins screamed, their friends managed to alert a second tourist boat, skippered by experienced guide Gerardo Escamilla Perez, to rescue them.
Once Melissa was hauled into another boat, the extent of her injuries became clear.
Georgia said: “She had puncture wounds everywhere but wasn’t bleeding out. She was drifting in and out of consciousness. The thing that worried me was she was coughing up blood and saying, ‘I’m drowning, I’m drowning’. It was scary, and she screamed too.
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“I thought of how I had seen her face down in the water for a long time, so I was worried how much water she had swallowed.”
The twins, from Sandhurst, Berks, were taken to a hospital in Puerto Escondido, where Georgia was treated for bite marks and gashes to her right hand and wrist, and scratches on her legs.
Melissa was found to have a fractured wrist and lacerations on her stomach, but doctors were most concerned that she had developed sepsis, or blood poisoning, in her wounds.
Georgia said: “The doctors were worried about that and they were worried about her lungs because they thought she may have got pneumonia from an infection.
“I had to sign some papers saying treatment could go ahead, which included an induced coma. That was scary, because it seemed touch and go.”
Last week Melissa woke from her coma, and is now expected to remain in hospital for up to two weeks.
'GLAD TO BE ALIVE'
Georgia said: “She managed to ask what had happened. She had a tube removed from her throat and she’s very sore but glad to be alive.”
And yesterday Melissa sent a voice message, saying: “I am extremely grateful that I came out of this alive, and that I had Georgia fight my side for me. So I am very happy for that.”
Bandaged Georgia, who is currently staying at a backpackers’ hostel, said the sisters were keen to continue their round-the-world tour, which they began in March.
She added: “Melissa’s got a fractured wrist which is going to take longer to heal than her other injuries and she might as well recover here rather than be bored at home.
“We’re definitely not going to end our world tour. We want to continue. I can recover well here and so can she.”
Meanwhile, the twins’ frantic parents, Sue, 62, and Sean, 63, have been trying to organise a trip out to be by their daughter’s side in hospital.
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They are now planning to jet out to Mexico next week.
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So far the girls’ medical bill has reached £11,000, but a GoFundMe page has raised more than £43,800 for the family.
One of Georgia’s backpacker pals, young German traveller Max Lorijn, said: “She’s such a brave and fantastic girl. I am thankful she had a good outcome and hopefully her sister will continue to be well.”
Georgia Laurie gives an update on her twin sister after she was attacked by a crocodile in Mexico
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