A woman in Florida survived an alligator attack after the predator bit her hand and pulled her underwater. According to a statement from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office on July 23, the victim was an unidentified 27-year-old woman.
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Alligator Bites Woman’s Hand And Drags Her Underwater, But She Survives
The woman and her boyfriend were boating on the South Fork River near SW Linden Street. They then decided to get into the water, which was waist-deep, not knowing an alligator was lurking beneath.
While in the water with their dog, the creature attacked, biting the hand and wrist of the woman. It “momentarily pulled her under,” as most alligators do to their prey before making a kill.
Luckily, the alligator decided to release the woman, allowing her to survive for another day. Her boyfriend drove his injured girlfriend to the boat ramp at Charlie Leighton Park. After calling emergency services, a helicopter flew the victim to Lawnwood “as a precaution.”
Officials are now looking to track down this animal. “FWC has responded and are awaiting their trapper to locate the alligator,” said the statement. The FWC is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The good news is that the alligator didn’t injure the dog or the boyfriend. Still, the woman likely suffered some serious bite injuries to her hand and wrist. She’s lucky that she still has her hand intact.
Similar Hand Injuries
Her story is not too different from another recent animal attack involving an injured hand. After a shark attack in May, 26-year-old Rachel Smith nearly lost her entire hand.
The shark bit her hand while she was paddling in Montego Bay in Jamaica. This left her ring finger hanging off her hand.
In the moment, she assumed her entire hand would be gone. Luckily, Smith received medical treatment at a hospital, and doctors managed to reattach her finger.
Speaking of losing fingers, a Kentucky man was close to losing his entire hand after a fireworks accident. A firework that 18-year-old Andrew Stratton was holding exploded too early, causing him to lose three fingers and half his thumb.
This freak accident nearly cost him his eyesight as well. The explosion singed his eyelashes and eyebrows too, but he had since been recovering well in the hospital.