Komodo Dragon Attack: 83-Year-Old Indonesian Woman Fights Off 6.5-Foot Komodo Dragon With A Broom

An 83-year-old Indonesian woman used a broom to fight off a Komodo dragon attack on Tuesday, April 9 near the woman's house on Rinca Island.

Komodo National Park official Heru Rudiharto said the Komodo dragon, a 6.5 foot venomous giant lizard, bit the left hand of the woman, named Haifha, while she was sitting on the ground near her house. Haifha said that the lizard appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her hand in its mouth.

"I have no idea which direction it came from. A knife fell from my right hand as the Komodo sunk its teeth into my wrist. There was nobody else around and I knew that I faced a fight for survival," The woman explained to the AFP from her hospital bed.

Haifa fought off the attack with a broom, hitting the Komodo dragon's nose several times and kicking it in the leg until it let go of her left hand. Haifa's neighbors heard her scream as she crawled away from the lizard and helped to drive the animal away.

Haifa was able to keep her hand; it took 20 stitches to repair, according to the Associated Press.

The woman spoke to the press through her son, who translated the woman's local dialect into Indonesian. She added, "I'm doing fine now. I hope my hand will return to normal so that I can make brooms again."

Komodo dragons are huge monitor lizards, the largest living lizards on the planet. They are carnivores, eating mostly deer and carrion.

Komodo dragons are venomous, but it's yet unknown whether or not Haifa has suffered any effects from the toxins.

Until recently, Komodo dragons were thought to hunt with a 'bite and wait' strategy, using their saliva, filled with toxic bacteria, to weaken the prey before taking down the prey in a group.

However, recent research has discovered that the lizard's jaws have sophisticated poison glands that can cause paralysis, spasms and shock, reported the AFP.

The lizards are found in the wild in the eastern Indonesian islands, where they can get larger than 10-feet long and can weigh up to 150 pounds.

Within their habitat, Komodo dragons are at the top of their food chain, but they are endangered. There are believed to be fewer than 4,000 Komodo dragons in the wild.