The video shows a group of young kids watching the gator feeding from behind an enclosed glass.
The handler, Lindsay Bull, was feeding the gator when she was attacked, latching onto her hand and pulling her into the pool.
The gator then did the “death roll”, a common move to dismember its prey. Bull rolled with him in order to minimize injury.
That’s when a bystander later identified as Donnie Wiseman jumped in to her Bull.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports:
“Wiseman jumped into the enclosure to hold the animal down. Another man, Todd Christopher, leaned through the door to talk to Bull and try to help. He was able to pull her out when the animal let go.
The video shows Wiseman sitting on the reptile afterward, as Bull talked him through the best way to get off the animal and out of the tank. He eventually scrambled out.
“These gentleman could have stayed in the safety zone as most of us would,” read a post on the Scales and Tails Facebook page, “but instead [they] jumped into the situation, of their own volition, and helped secure the alligator.”...
Bull told The Tribune that she was actually bitten twice on Saturday. The first was a lighter bite. Then came the second, when he “chomped down hard.” That’s when Bull said she knew the situation had gotten serious.
When she realized the gator was about to roll, Bull said she was scared, but she drew from her old training as a gymnast and acted regardless.
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this. It is scary,’ [but] what other choice do you have?” Bull asked. “You’re going to roll and hopefully save your limb, or you’re not and you’re definitely going to lose your limb.”
The gator rolled her once, but Wiseman jumped into the pool seconds later and got onto the reptile’s back.
Bull and the two men stayed still as the gator calmed down, perhaps realizing that the animal it had tried to eat wasn’t a good food source, Richins said. That’s when it let go and Bull was able to get away.”
The petting zoo, Scales And Tales Utah, put out a statement thanking the Wiseman and two other bystanders, Todd & Amy Christopher, for their heroism:
“Working with some of these animals has inherent risks that we as the staff accept. Yesterday, the sort of event that we hope never happens happened. 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. Their help, combined with the training of our staff member, probably saved her life and her limbs. Mrs. Christopher had a nursing background and started first aid prior to the EMT’s arrival and we thank her for that as well. Our staff member is doing well and is in recovery."
They also provided an update Bull who they say went through surgery and will make a full recovery including gaining full usage of her hand: