An elderly woman escaped the jaws of an 8ft crocodile by poking its eyes when it tried to drag her into a river.
Ahalya Parida, 65, was washing plates and cutlery in the river of a national park in Odisha, eastern India, when the giant reptile emerged from the water, grabbed her legs and tried to drag her under.
The woman screamed but didn't wait long for someone to rescue her. Instead, she took one of her sharp utensils and stuck in the crocodile's eye, New Indian Express reports.
The monstrous reptile loosened its grip on her limbs, allowing her to wriggle from its jaws.
Despite escaping death, she was still badly injured and is in a serious condition in hospital in the nearby city of Bhubaneswar.
The woman's bravery during the attack has become legendary in the nearby village, where locals are terrified after four people were killed by crocodiles in the national park's rivers in the past three months.
Local government official Arabinda Mandal told the Express the creatures are a major concern in the area, and that "nobody can even dare take a bath in the river; not even the animals."
Days before the woman was attacked, a cattle-rearer grazing his livestock had decided to take a bath in the nearby Brahmani River.
One of the crocodiles thrashed out of the water, grabbed him and slunk back below the surface with the man between his jaws.
Officials said the farmer's body was nowhere to be found, according to International Business Times.
Bodies of water in the area have been barricaded by officials and locals have been warned to avoid the animals' habitat during breeding season.
