Alligator pulls handler into enclosure and a bystander jumps in to help

Caution, this video and content may be disturbing to view. Photo: David Clode

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah. — Guests at a reptile and bird center in Utah jumped into an enclosure over the weekend to rescue a handler after she was bitten by an alligator.

Video taken by one of the guests shows an unidentified handler at Scales and Tails Utah in West Valley City talking to guests about the alligator when it grabbed her hand and pulled her into the water on Saturday.

One of the guests, later identified as Donnie Wiseman, jumped into the water and climbed on top of the alligator while another man, Todd Christopher, helped the handler escape from the pool, the video showed.

Christopher’s wife, who had a background in nursing, then began performing first aid before emergency crews arrived at the scene. The company said Sunday that the handler is “doing well and is in recovery.”

“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 company said in a statement. “Their help, combined with the training of our staff member, probably saved her life and her limbs.”