A British woman who repeatedly punched a crocodile in the face to save her twin sister is set to receive a special honor from King Charles.
Georgia Laurie, 31, will be awarded the King’s Gallantry Medal for her brave efforts, the BBC reported.
“I feel really privileged, it’s a silver lining to have come out of the terrible ordeal,” Georgia said.
“It’s an honor, I was so shocked when I received the letter because I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t expect it,” she added.
Georgia and her twin sister, Melissa, were volunteering in Puerto Escondido, Mexico in June 2021 when they were wrongly informed by their guide that they could safely swim in the nearby Manialtepec Lagoon, the Telegraph said.
Melissa was getting out of the water when the croc attacked, the outlet explained.
“It all happened very quickly,” she later recalled to BBC Breakfast.
“When I was bitten and dragged under water I thought ….’that’s it I’m a goner,’” she said of the harrowing attack.
But her courageous sister fought off the beast, punching it in the nose while using her free hand to keep her unconscious twin’s head above water.
The pair tussled for several moments until – as the crocodile started to “death-roll” Melissa – Georgia planted another firm punch on its face, prompting the crocodile to release her sister once and for all.
Melissa suffered severe puncture wounds to her abdomen, as well as an open fracture to her wrist and bite wounds on her leg and foot, the BBC said.
“I could feel myself losing grip of our bond when I was on the boat. I was saying ‘hug me Georgia hug me I’m dying’… I was biting onto her shoulder to stay connected to her,” Melissa recalled of the frantic moments before medical help arrived.
“She sang Stand By Me and Don’t Worry About A Thing. She sang them on repeat to keep me calm. She was so brave,” she said of her sister, who also suffered a bite wound to her hand.
Melissa was placed in a medically-induced coma and developed life-threatening sepsis before bouncing back and being released from the hospital later that month.
“The further away it gets, the less it feels real,” Georgia told BBC Breakfast of the twins’ incredible survival story.
“But then something like this happens and it puts it all back into perspective again, like wow, that actually did happen, it’s a crazy story.
“We are much closer now as a result of what happened — our bond was severed when I thought that she had died,” she said.
“What’s made this story so incredible is Melissa’s unwavering bravery throughout it all because she was so strong during it and I don’t think I would be here without her, she really gave me the strength to keep fighting,” Georgia added.
Georgia and Melissa are set to swim the Thames Marathon on Aug. 11 to raise money for PTSD UK and Compañeros En Salud, a charity in Mexico that provides aid and medical training, the BBC said.
The King’s Gallantry Medal is awarded to civilians and members of the armed forces who displayed exceptional acts of bravery, according to the Cabinet Office website.
Nominees are evaluated by the awarding committee based in part on the degree of risk involved in their actions, the description explained.
The medal was last awarded during the reign of King Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II.