Andrew Hudson, 17, was swimming on Monday at Little Big Econ State Forest in Florida. His foot hit what he thought was a log. Until that log clamped down on his head and neck and took him under. Hudson was in a fight for his life with a 10-foot-long gator.

He recounted the tale for ABC News.

“It took me a couple of seconds to actually figure out that it was a gator,” Hudson recalled. “He took me under, and I felt the gator’s claws and body and stuff. And I just started trying to do whatever i could to get away. I didn’t really want to die.”

Hudson was caught by the head, neck and shoulders in the gator’s powerful jaws.

“He came up behind me and clamped. I was worried about how much blood I was losing, because I couldn’t see.

Hudson’s kicked and started punching the gator. Then, as quickly as it had grabbed him, the gator turned loose.

“I got lucky there,” says Hudson. “I didn’t think he would [let go]. And then I got on land, bleeding everywhere. I took off my shorts and wrapped them around my head to stop the bleeding.”

Hudson has 19 stitches in his back and 15 staples in his head from the ordeal. Bu he says he was just grateful that the gator attacked him, and not his female friend with him.

“I was really glad it was me and not her, because I was able to get away,” he said.

WPTV News reports that area Fish and Wildlife officials looked into the case. They found a gator even bigger than the one Hudson described near where his ordeal took place. They were able to bait a trap for it, and it showed no fear of the trappers. That indicated to them that they had the right gator. They killed the animal and it will be processed for meat and hide.