While the thought of a crocodile-punching woman is amusing, the real-life situation described here is decidedly anything but. The young woman has received a well-deserved medal for her heroic death-defying actions to save her twin sister. -Editor

On 6 June 2021, Georgia Laurie was on an excursion in Mexico with her twin sister and others, when a guide wrongly informed them that they could safely swim in a river off the Manialtepec Lagoon in Puerto Escondido.

Whilst in the water, her sister identified a crocodile also in the water approximately 15 metres away and alerted Ms Laurie and others to swim for safety. During the frantic escape, the crocodile snatched Ms Laurie's sister just as she was being pulled onto the bank by one of the other excursion members. Ms Laurie was stranded in the mangroves, unable to reach the bank. The excursion member who attempted to pull Ms Laurie's sister onto the bank went to seek help, while another managed to climb to safety in a tree. Ms Laurie continued searching through the mangroves and was alerted to the position of her sister floating unconscious face down on the surface by the excursion member who had climbed the tree. Ms Laurie managed to revive her, however, the crocodile returned. It attacked her sister again, biting her by the ankle and dragging her away.

Ms Laurie fought off the crocodile by punching it on the nose with one fist while ensuring her sister's head stayed above water with her other hand. Eventually, this deterred the crocodile and Ms Laurie was able to drag her sister to a more secluded area to attend to her wounds. However, the crocodile returned for a final attack. It death-rolled her sister and, as Ms Laurie was punching the crocodile to release her sister from its jaws, she sustained her own injuries when it bit her hand. During the process of retrieving her sister to safety, the crocodile attacked Ms Laurie and, though bitten and wounded, her priority was to get her sister back to a nearby boat regardless of her injuries.

Ms Laurie's sister survived with an open fracture to her wrist, severe puncture wounds to the abdomen and many injuries to her leg and foot. That she did so was almost entirely due to the exceptional bravery of her sister, who clearly knew that a dangerous crocodile was in the water but still chose to risk her life to save her sister, showing great persistence in fighting off the attack on multiple occasions.