A young woman has revealed how she managed to survive a horror crocodile attack.
Ivana Manzur suffered bites to one of her legs, her foot, and also her hand.
The 26-year-old’s injuries on her foot were so severe that she thought she was going to have to have it amputated.
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As she recalls the events that took place, Ivana has even said that she thought she was going to die.
At the time, she was visiting the city of Cancun, in Mexico with her family, and had visited a Greek restaurant with some friends.
She went outside of the restaurant and posed for a picture on the dock.
It was at this moment when she fell into the Nichupté lagoon, and was savaged by the reptile.
“I saw it face to face when I fell into the water,” Ivana, who is from Villahermosa, Mexico, says in her video.
“I had it in front of me and I said, ‘I’m going to die’.
“But Christ said ‘No chiquita’, this is not the time.
“I started to pray to God.
“I wanted my parents to have a body to cry for.
“I don’t remember the size of the crocodile but I don’t think it was a baby crocodile because of the wounds he left me with.
“He tried to drown me three times but I swear to you, I had supernatural strength that I really didn’t know about.
“I started hitting him and came out.”
The struggle lasted for around five minutes, leaving Ivana in a state of total shock.
At the time, her family were not present but her sister’s cousin who she was with helped her, along with a waiter from the restaurant.
“I only saw blood,” Ivana continued in the video.
“I went with my friends, so my family wasn’t even there.
“The first thing I wanted was my cell phone so I could call my family.”
The terrifying ordeal occurred in July 2021, however Ivana has only just started to feel ready to open up.
Despite her wounds being fully healed, she has been left with both physical and mental scars.
Since the incident, Ivana has battled post-traumatic stress and insecurities about her appearance, as reported by Need To Know.
Surprisingly, she has stated that despite what happened, she feels no fear towards the animal which attacked her.
She said: “The truth is that there has been a lot of therapy.”
“I have post-traumatic stress and I don’t care if the memories don’t come back to me.
“I did not develop any trauma towards the animal, I only developed certain insecurities of my body.
“I feel insecure about my scars, and what people will say about those things.
“But towards the animal, the truth is that there is nothing.
“It’s not an animal that scares me but I obviously wouldn’t go swimming.
“I could have lost everything to my head, but well, I didn’t lose it, and I’m here.
“I’m a warrior.”
Ivana has been skeptical about telling her story, and sharing what happened with the world.
In the past, she has experienced cruel comments from people who have accused her of making up the story.
She finally feels as though she is healing after suffering mental torment for the past three years since the attack happened.
Ivana hopes that she can make a positive impact through sharing her experience.
“Obviously for me it is super difficult to make these videos and tell my story,” Ivana said.
“People used to say really ugly things to me.
“I was told that ‘Oh, you are a liar’, they sent me messages saying ‘You weren’t doing that’ like they knew more than I did.
“I would go out in the street with a lot of shame.
“When I returned to the city of Villahermosa again to rehabilitate myself I would go out in the street with a cap and glasses.
“I was actually embarrassed that people knew.
“I didn’t deserve to be bitten by a crocodile.
“But well, in the end it happened.
“I’m still having a hard time and I’m in the process of being able to say ‘I can wear a bikini’ or ‘I can wear shorts’.
“I’m not at that point yet, but I know I will make it.
“In one way or another if I can touch someone with my story in a positive way, I’m going to do it.”
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