A Florida woman lost her arm from a gruesome alligator attack, but Good Samaritans may have helped save her life, according to multiple reports.
WKMG, citing the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, reported that a woman was attacked by a massive alligator while swimming and paddleboarding in the Silver River in Marion County on Aug. 8.
‘It was a terrible injury, bones poking out, blood everywhere.’
Fox News reported that the gator bit the woman’s right arm and dragged her under water.
According to WOFL-TV, Mike Head said he was out on the river with his wife and children when he heard two women screaming, “Gator!”
Head recalled that the alligator was likely 20-30 feet away.
Head said of the alligator, “It was almost like a missile, and it would just kind of … I could just see the back of it.”
“And I could see it going over to her. I was in this kind of like, ‘This can’t be happening,'” Head said.
Head said he thought to himself, “‘Is she dead? Do I dive in, and now I’m going to get ripped apart myself?’ There’s a lot of things going through my head, trying to figure out what I was doing as I was paddling on this thing towards her.”
Head decided to try to use a paddle as a weapon to deter the animal from attacking the victim, identified as 58-year-old Dina Spann by the New York Post.
He told WOFL that the alligator’s jaws were locked on Spann’s arm.
“I couldn’t swing because I knew I was going to hit her in the head from my position, so I come around the other side. … And then I swing, because I can see it still, and I don’t know if I hit it or not,” Head explained. “I just know that it was gone after I hit.”
WOFL-TV reported that John Gamache and his father were on their boat when they heard frantic cries for help, so they drove full speed toward the swimmers.
“By the time he arrived, the alligator had released the victim, and the commotion of the boat helped scare the reptile away,” WOFL reported.
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The gator caused a severe injury to the victim’s arm that needed immediate medical treatment.
Spann’s son, Zach Guerrina, who accompanied her on the trip, told the New York Post that his mother was “just as calm as a f**king cucumber” throughout the harrowing ordeal.
Guerrina said of his mom, “It was a crazy situation, and she was the calmest one there, with her arm hanging off by a f**king thread.”
Head said he used a rope as a makeshift tourniquet to control the bleeding.
Gamache recalled, “It was a terrible injury, bones poking out, blood everywhere. Obviously, the minutes mattered.”
Good Samaritans pulled the injured woman from the river and brought her to shore. She was then transported to a hospital for treatment.
However, the woman had to have her right arm amputated, WOFL reported.
The woman’s family confirmed to WOFL on Sunday that Spann had been discharged from the hospital and is now resting at home.
Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and a contracted Nuisance Alligator Trapper located and trapped a 9’8″ alligator on Sunday. Authorities said the area was temporarily closed following the attack and reopened after the alligator was removed.
Spann’s family thanked Gamache for saving the woman.
“They called earlier, and we talked for a while, and it was heartwarming to hear them explain their emotions,” Gamache said. “We’re glad that it happened as good as it could have. Like the result is just the sustained injury and nothing more.”
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