It started as an artistic photo shoot that suddenly turned ugly when a lion attacked a beautiful cover girl. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
A 56-year-old dancer was posing for the cover of a magazine with a full grown lion named Leo. Suddenly, Leo lunged.
She writhed in pain on the floor as the trainer gained control of the 400-pound cat. Seconds later, Leo made another run at her.
"Grateful to be alive" is how the dancer, Gitanjali Kolanad, describes her brush with death.
The attack resulted in four broken ribs. Thank goodness the lion didn't try to bite her.
When the magazine came out, the cover photo that was used made no reference to the attack.
It's happened before. 23-year-old model Shannon Audly, was posing in lingerie with a lion when it turned on her. Shannon suffered massive lacerations to her head that needed 56 stitches to close. She spent five days in the hospital.
As for the dancer, she says she didn't know the lion was going to be there until she showed up for the cover shoot. She thought Leo was going to be photshopped into the picture.
