"I just felt something like tug on to me, and wrap its jaw around me and gain grip of me," Gabriel Klimis said.
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Gabriel said he was walking along a creek in Winter Springs, Florida, with a few friends on Tuesday evening after a swim. That's when the gator suddenly lunged toward him.
"I just did what first came to mind," Gabriel said. "I was just like, 'go, go, go.'"
Thinking fast, Gabriel grabbed a stick nearby. He fought to pull himself out of the gator's jaws.
"Just try to get myself up as quickly as possible and make sure that nothing worse happens," Gabriel said.
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Thankfully, he was able to escape. His hip was injured, but the reptile backed off and swam away.
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"He got up and we saw that he had a gator bite, and everyone was in shock. I was freaking out, and I was crying," said Judah Klimis, Gabriel's brother.
Gabriel called 911. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
"It feels like good luck. I can still walk and stuff. And, I'm very thankful, because I could have not been here right now," Gabriel said.
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The gator was captured two days later.
"I just broke down crying on my lunch hour," said Allison, Gabriel's mother. "When, also, I saw the pictures of the size of the gator that tried to get my son. And, I knew it was an absolute miracle of God that he's alive."