Young Florida boy talks about surviving gator attack

ORLANDO, FL -- A young boy who survived a terrifying gator attack is now talking about that ordeal.

James Barney, 9, was still recovering from surgery when he was wheeled into a news conference at Orlando's Arnold Palmer Hospital.

"It was a pretty big tooth," he said. "They said the alligator was about 9 foot."

The attack happened on Thursday at a lake in St. Cloud, according to TV station WESH in Orlando. James told reporters he jumped in the lake to cool off, felt a tug and thought it was his friends messing with him. Then he discovered it wasn't.

"I felt its jaw. I felt his teeth," he said. "I didn't know what to do so I immediately reacted and hit it a couple of times so then it was letting go and finally I had enough strength left to pry it's jaw open a little."

While in the ER, doctors found an alligator tooth still embedded in his back.

"And they said, 'Hey what's this?' And they pulled out a tooth and showed it to me," said James. "And I said, 'Oh I want to put it on a necklace.'"

The lake is closed for swimming as trappers try to snag the gator that attacked Barney. And even if it was open, James as asked if he's ever going to swim in the lake again.

"Negative," he answered.