Theme park guests jump in to save handler attacked by alligator in demonstration

Terrifying visuals showed alligator named Darth Gador dragging the handler into its enclosure

A witness jumps into an alligator tank to help a handler after her hand was bit by the reptile. (Fox13)

A reptile handler, bitten and dragged her into the water by an alligator, was eventually saved by guests who were watching her demonstration and jumped into the animal’s enclosure at the West Valley City reptile and bird centre in Utah.

Grim visuals from a video shot by onlookers show employee Lindsay Bull talking to some guests, including children, outside the alligator’s enclosure when midway she gets dragged by her hand into the water tub by the reptile. Ms Bull, who remained calm throughout the mishap, instructed two men to help gain control over the alligator.

The visuals show the alligator, named Darth Gador, not only dragging Ms Bull into its enclosure but also tossing and turning in the water with her hand in its mouth.

Ms Bull then instructed one of the guests to jump in the water. She motioned them to control the alligator by sitting on top, while she locked the reptile’s mouth with both her legs. A minute later, the alligator stopped its turbulent movements in the water, allowing both her and the guest helper to sit with it patiently for nearly 30 seconds before she could pull her hand out of its mouth.

Another onlooker pulled her out of the tank while the guest continued to control the alligator by sitting on top of him.

Sharing the details of the incident on Facebook, Scales & Tails Utah thanked the two guests who rescued the handler and said, “We want to send a huge shoutout to Donnie Wiseman and Todd & Amy Christopher! We want to thank them for their heroism.”

“One of our gator handlers got bitten by our large alligator and things took a bad turn. These gentleman could have stayed in the safety zone as most of us would, but instead jumped into the situation, of their own volition, and helped secure the alligator,” the Facebook post read.

The handler was later taken to a hospital where she is recovering well.

Talking to Fox news, Bull said she is not going anywhere and won’t be quitting her job after this episode. “No way! I love Darth Gador. I’ll be back there as soon as I can.”

She explained that the surprising turn of events was not unusual for her because of the nature of job. “It was just a normal training routine, something that I’ve done a bunch of times. But working with animals like this, you kind of accept that something can go wrong and probably will go wrong,” she told Fox news.

That is what happened on Saturday, she said.

Company owner Shane Richins said that the alligator got a little extra spunky when he was supposed to be fed by the handler. But the incident has made the centre reconsider their policies on handling of reptile.

The centre, Richins said, normally follows a strict policy for a second handler to be nearby when employees are working with the alligators. But that hasn’t been enforced in recent years if the worker isn’t planning to enter the enclosure, he said.