The heroic young Briton who saved her twin sister from the jaws of a crocodile in Mexico insisted ‘I’m no hero’ – as she gave the clearest account yet of the horrifying attack.
Georgia Laurie described how she fought off the ten-foot predator as the animal mauled her and tried to death-roll her twin Melissa – but then feared her sister was dead after she was taken under the water in a silent attack in a tropical lagoon.
Georgia spoke as it emerged that while Melissa is due to be released from hospital sooner than first expected, she will not be able to fly home to Berkshire for two weeks because she has to recover from a punctured lung.
The sisters had been taken to an unsafe part of the Manialtepec Lagoon – a coastal lagoon about 18 km west of Puerto Escondido in the State of Oaxaca – where crocodiles were nesting by an unlicensed tourist guide on June 6.
He had assured them it was safe and the sisters were swimming with two friends when Georgia spotted the crocodile. The sisters tried to swim to safety but the predator caught Melissa.
Speaking from Puerto Escondido in Mexico Georgia, 28, said: ‘I saw her getting taken underneath the water and my worse fear became a reality – that I’ve probably lost her. She’s dead.
‘I saw [the crocodile] coming towards us but they move very silently.
Melissa (left) who narrowly survived being attacked and dragged to the bottom of a lake by a crocodile faces a setback in her recovery, Mail Online has learned. Her twin Georgia (right), 28, saved her sister from the crocodile’s jaws
Pictured: Melissa (left) and Georgia earlier in their trip to Mexico
‘I meant they look like they are moving slowly but they are moving quick. And everything is just very quiet.
‘I actually heard her scream and I saw her being taken underneath by the crocodile.
‘And then I realized she was really in trouble when I was calling her name and there was no response from her.
‘The adrenalin kicked in and I saw her body floating and I thought, at that moment, honestly, that she was no longer with us.
‘But I grabbed her body and I pulled it towards me, I rested it on my chest and she was blue and I tried to revive her.
‘But then the crocodile came along, so I beat it off and it went away but then she started going into a fit, flaying her arms and legs, I think she thought it was still attacking her.
‘And I tried to calm her down and then it came back.
Melissa and Georgia’s parents Sean and Sue have traveled to Mexico this week to be with their daughters. Mr Laurie said the attack has left his daughter with lasting physical and mental scars
‘And that’s when I sustained actually the most injuries because it grabbed her on the leg and her behind and tried to death roll her and drag her away
‘So I was beating it on its snout and it grabbed my wrist and my arm.
‘So I had to beat it off with the other, with my other arm
‘Yeah, it was trying to juggle, like so many things at once, keeping her out of the way and trying, trying to get this thing off of her.’
Despite her brave action to save her sister, she rejected any suggestion of being a hero when questioned.
Georgia, talking to the BBC, continued: ‘It’s a difficult one, I don’t.
‘I think maybe that comes down to self-esteem.
‘If someone told me the same story I’d say: “Wow! That’s so brave of you. Like that’s a really… you’re a hero.”
‘But it’s hard to believe compliments yourself and when someone says these things to you because it feels surreal. The whole thing feels surreal.
‘It doesn’t feel like it actually happened to me.
‘It was an out-of-body experience at the time.
‘So it’s just, it’s taken a time to process really, that I did that, that actually I did that.‘You know, I helped save my sister’s life.’
And she added that Melissa had also fought hard to stay alive.
Georgia added: ‘But also, I want to touch on, she fought for her own life, as well.
‘She really, she really fought and clung on.’
Melissa has healed quicker than doctors expected and should be well enough to be released from hospital within days despite suffering numerous injuries.
She had hoped to be able to then fly back to the UK with her parents who raced to Mexico to be with her this week – and then to continue to recuperate at the family home in Berkshire.
Georgia (right), who fought off a crocodile as it dragged her twin sister into a Mexican lagoon, has been seen walking near the hospital in between visits
Georgia (left) was comforted by a friend as she left the Angel Del Mar Hospital on Wednesday
But now medics have forbidden the 28-year-old zookeeper from flying for at least two weeks as she recovers from a punctured lung.
Taking to the skies before her lung is fully healed, Melissa has been advised, is against airline regulations and also presents a huge risk to her health.
So the family from Sandhurst, Berks, must decide whether parents Sean, 63, and Sue, 62, stay on in Mexico until Melissa is able to fly or whether they return home without her.
The couple had intended to return to Britain with their daughters early next week when they set out from home last Monday.
The twins and friends are pictured smiling in the hospital following the horrific crocodile attack in Mexico
But these medical complications have thrown their plans into disarray, a source close to the family has revealed.
They had flown out after sister Georgia had begged her mum to come to Mexico to support her.
Now the intrepid twin – who saved her sister from the jaws of the crocodile – is reluctant to return home half-way through her six-month travels.
The couple spent more than six hours at Melissa’s hospital bedside yesterday while they thrashed it out.
The source told MailOnline: ‘Doctors have told Melissa she cannot fly until her lung is completely healed.
‘To do so beforehand would not only break airline rules it would also be extremely dangerous. The change in the air pressure could rupture her lung and leave her gasping for breath.
‘Melissa has amazed everyone with how quickly she’s recovered but obviously it’s going to take a lot longer till she’s completely well and she wanted to do the second part of her recovery at home.
‘So this news is obviously disappointing to her but I’m sure she won’t let it get her too down.’
The source added: ‘Sean and Sue want to bring their girls home as soon as they can. They have suffered a terrifying ordeal which has scarred both of them.
‘Melissa has very obvious physical wounds from the attack but Georgia also has mental scars from the experience too. They’ll both be better off at home.’
Melissa Laurie’s parents Sean and Sue and her sister Georgia (third, fifth and fourth from the left respectively) went to the lagoon where she was attacked by a crocodile with representatives of the local tourism industry to show that the area is safe if travelers go with licensed tour guides
Moises Salinas, 16, who works as a helper on a tour boat named Espatula Rosada, jumped into the shallow murky waters along the Manialtepec River to help rescue Melissa
The twins’ parents landed in Mexico on Tuesday and went straight to the hospital to see Melissa.
A now-closed GoFundMe campaign set up by the family to cover the twin’s medical expenses raised a whopping £43,813.