A California teenager was attacked and dragged underwater by a 12-foot-long crocodile while vacationing in Mexico — but lived to tell the tale after courageously fighting off the creature!
The vicious attack took place when Kiana Hummel and a friend decided to go for a nighttime swim in the ocean just outside of the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa, according to local ABC affiliate KGO. However, their late-night dip soon took a nightmarish turn. Before the two had even reached the water, Hummel told the outlet a massive crocodile emerged from the dark depths and hauled the 18-year-old into the water by her right leg.
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Even though she was plunged underwater, the recent high school graduate bravely maintained her composure and repeatedly punched the reptile multiple times until it finally released her from its grip. But just seconds later, the crocodile struck again by grabbing her left ankle and pulling her below the surface. She recalled to KGO:
“I just remember saying, ‘please don’t leave me.’ I didn’t think I was getting out that second time. That was just really bad.”
Holy s**t, how she stayed so calm at the moment truly is a testament to her strength! Not going to lie, we would have been freaking out!
Luckily for Kiana, she fought long enough to get help. Several witnesses saw her attack and sprang into action to free the teen from the animal. Sarah Laney, who was there on vacation from St. Louis — and didn’t even know Kiana — was one of those who helped. She and her friends were able to release the young woman from the crocodile’s clutches and brought her to safety on the shore, as Laney explained to KGO:
“It was most definitely one of the craziest, scariest things I’ve ever experienced. Honestly, I will never forget it when the crocodile’s head came above water. I just went into shock.”
After the confrontation, Hummel immediately called her mother, Ariana Martinez, to detail what had just happened. Oof, we cannot even imagine how the mom must have been feeling after receiving that sort of call! No parent certainly expects this horrifying incident to happen.
The protective momma told KGO that she immediately booked the next flight from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta following the scary accident, saying:
“I’m on the phone with her. She’s yelling, ‘Get me an ambulance, get me an ambulance to the hospital.’ It took them forever.”
The wait was almost 45 minutes for an ambulance to transport her to the hospital.
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Kiana suffered “extensive muscle and tissue damage,” according to a GoFundMe set up by her friend. The damage was reportedly so severe she currently is unable to walk and will undergo a second surgery.
In the end, Hummel, Martinez, and Laney believe the resort could have done a lot more to warn guests about the dangers of crocodile attacks on the property. The group of women told KGO that the Marriott only had one warning sign in the area that was posted in Spanish and dimly lit. Laney expressed to the outlet:
“Until that moment, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought a crocodile was on that beach. Ever.”
We spoke to both Kiana and a bystander who witnessed the attack. Both say nobody at the @Marriott warned them crocodiles were in the ocean.
They say they only learned later that there is one small warning sign, but it's mostly in Spanish and not lit up at night. pic.twitter.com/I0wlypqdmC
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) July 27, 2021
Momma Martinez also voiced how the situation “could have ended so much differently”:
“That could have been a totally different call.”
So scary and so true. Meanwhile, a friend of Laney named Natalie opened up about the terrifying ordeal in a scathing review of the destination on Tripadvisor:
“These girls weren’t warned because the sign at the main entrance that has the ‘warning’ is 20 feet of to the side. Had my group not been sitting on the patio near the beach that poor girl would’ve DIED. I understand you don’t want to ‘scare’ guests, but the following day there should’ve been big YELLOW signs to warn of the attack.”
You would certainly think! She then noted how “TRAUMATIZED” her friends were by the experience, saying:
“That crocodile is a monster and will be back on your beaches until he gets what he wants, do something about it before you kill one of your guests.”
In response, Marriott spokesperson Kerstin Sachl explained to People in a statement that they always encourage guests to remain “vigilant for their safety,” adding:
“The safety and security of our guests and associates are our top priority. At the Marriott Puerto Vallarta, we have appropriate signage, as well as night, patrolling and red flags to indicate caution in the area and all were and are properly in place.”
Wow…
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