Two Alabama women say they feared for their lives when a large alligator in Daphne’s Lake Forest flipped over their kayaks last weekend.

The women were kayaking on the lake when something overturned one of their kayaks, WKRG reported. One of the women, Michelle Hartley, said she swam over to her friend’s kayak and hopped on until the large alligator went beneath that kayak and flipped it over, as well.

Both women said they were treading water and trying to get back to land. They told WKRG that the alligator was in a standoff with them and would not let them get back to safety.

“I kept thinking I was going to die out there. Somebody tell me kids and my husband that I love them. It was crazy,” Hartley told WKRG.

Help came after a woman who lived nearby called 911. Firefighters threw a rope to the women and pulled them from the water. Firefighters said they have never seen an alligator in Lake Forest and believe the gator – estimated at 14 feet long – entered through D’Olive Creek after Hurricane Sally.