Teen Uses Discovery Channel Tip To Escape Alligator Attack

Mom: Tip To Poke Eye With Thumb Saved Son's Life

POSTED: 9:29 pm EDT July 23, 2006

UPDATED: 9:58 pm EDT July 23, 2006

DELAND, Fla. -- A 16-year-old being dragged into a Central Florida lake by a large alligator used a tip he watched on the Discovery Channel to break free and likely save his life, according to a Local 6 News report.

Corey Workman was in a remote area of the St. John's River in Volusia County, Fla., just before midnight Saturday, throwing rocks and sticks into the water. Authorities said a 6- to 8-foot-long alligator jumped out of the water, grabbed Workman's left foot and dragged him into the lake.

"He struggled with the alligator but could not get free until he remembered something he saw on the Discovery Channel about what to do if you are getting attacked by an alligator," Local 6 reporter Deborah Garcia said.

Workman poked the alligator in the eye with his thumb as he was told to do on the television show. His mom said the lesson of poking at the alligator's eye saved her son's life, Garcia said.

"If he was every bitten by a shark, he (learned) to put his hand in its gills and if he was ever attacked by a gator, to take his thumb and poke his thumb all the way in his eye and the gator released him," mother Elisa Badger said. "Thank God he was able to maintain his composure and not panic. He knew exactly what to do." "Everyone is calling teenager Corey Workman a very lucky young man today," Garcia said.

Trappers were trying to capture the alligator Sunday night. Workman remained in Florida Hospital Deland but could be released as early as Monday.

I hate it when gators play the ring-the-doorbell-and-hide game, especially since they really suck at hiding and you have to pretend you don't see them because otherwise they'll get mad and try to bite your head off and then you'll have to poke their eye out and well, as you can imagine, that can get rather messy and all.

Yes, it it really is a wacky world down here in Florida.

(by the way here's a picture i took recently showing you just how pathetic gators are when it comes to hiding)

Actually this is my husband and your judgment is quite off. He was out there doing something stupid but not something as stupid as tempting a gator. His foot happened to be in the water making movement and the alligator thought it was a fish. People often visit this area feeding the gators fish. Your comments are wrong and I bet if you were in his shoes you would be dead. As for others saying kill the gator with a gun, how many 16 year olds carry a gun with out being a delequent? And those saying he is a yankee, he lived 45 minutes away from the area. Try not to waste anymore of your time judging young children, when one time too I am sure your were not perfect and rebeled. (I am sure our son will not listen to us 100% of the time) He is now a wonderful father and buisness owner, at 21. I am sure half you cant say this for yourself.

And for the publisher it is Cory not with an ‘e’. Also the gator was 11 feet.

thank you.

Welcome to The Internet.

Here at Free Republic we make a habit of commenting and (((gasp))) making judgements about issues of the day and people in the news. It's a concept called 'social interaction' and 'free speech' When quirky or out of the ordinary news articles come along, such as this story, we try to do it with a sense of humor and good cheer, which you can see in evidence throughout this discussion thread.

You may have noticed that nobody here 'wished' for your husband to have died, unlike your own mean-spirited commentary:

I bet if you were in his shoes you would be dead.

One of the hazards you face when you start Googling the name of a person who has made headlines, as your husband did, is that you will invariably run across a wide range of opinion about that person. If you want to see REAL meanness, bile, vitriol and seething hate, go to any of the Left-wing commentary sites like Democratic Underground, Daily Kos or Huffington Post. You'll find breathtaking ugliness there that would NEVER be tolerated here at Free Republic.

The mild-mannered fun that we were having with this story is nothing that I am in any way ashamed of. If I had survived a gator attack and had used such an interesting and effective defense against the animal, I would be quite honored that people would be so impressed by it that they would want to spend their time discussing it and doing so in a manner that was fun for them. My ego isn't so overinflated that I'd be hurt or upset over something like that. I'm an easy going sort of guy in that way, and most mature adults are as well.

I do find it amusing that whenever there's an animal attack, survivors and relatives never say "Oh, the police and the press overstated the size of the animal....it wasn't quite that big". It always seems to be nearly double the size indicated in police reports. hmmmmm....

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