MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — A father who fell out of a kayak on a Georgia river found himself face-to-face with a seven-foot alligator.

Monroe County Emergency Services said that on Tuesday afternoon, they were called to a boat landing on the Ocmulgee River, where a man had fallen out of his kayak and couldn’t get back in. As he clung to the side of his son’s kayak, he told dispatchers that he saw an alligator in the water about 75 yards away from him.

There, they spotted the man wearing a life jacket in distress still hanging onto his son’s kayak. His kayak had floated down the river.

Thankfully the gator disappeared under the water around the time that first responders arrived. Firefighters were able to drive a boat out to the kayak and get the man to safety. The were also able to fish the man’s kayak out of the river.

“This situation goes to show the importance of wearing life jackets while enjoying the many waterways with in Monroe County,” EMS said. “Had the subject not been wearing a life jacket, that situation may have had a much different and worse outcome.”