Man Saves Girlfriend From Gator

11:13 PM ET 08/31/99

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - A woman was nearly dragged underwater by a 7-foot alligator before her boyfriend kicked the gator and managed to pull her out of a pond.   Deirdre Dozois, and her boyfriend, Stuart Chandler, were cooling themselves off in their favorite pond behind the Jolly Time Bar early Tuesday.

``We were sitting in about 2 feet of water being real quiet, and then I felt her body jerk,'' said Chandler, 41.

Ms. Dozois, 45, tried to leap into the air with the gator's jaws locked on her right calf.

``It felt like a Rottweiler had grabbed me and wouldn't let go,'' she said. ``It started to twist me into the water.'' Chandler began kicking it, and the gator released its grip. He pulled her out and tied a shirt around her thigh to slow the bleeding.

Ms. Dozois, who received 75 stitches on her leg, said they should have been more careful.

``We had been sitting near the water talking before it got dark and saw the gator stick its head out of the water a couple of times,'' she said.

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