A woman has lost her right arm after surviving an alligator attack while on the water with family members in a Florida river.
The woman was paddleboarding last Saturday afternoon when the attack happened, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
Her family said she tried to push away the alligator with
a paddle, but the animal seized her arm and dragged her beneath the water.
John Gamache and his father were having lunch on their boat nearby when they became aware of the attack.
“I looked just upriver from us a couple hundred feet and saw an alligator head way above the water and going full speed towards the swimmers,” Gamache told Fox.
He quickly steered towards the group, but by the time he arrived, the alligator had released the woman.
The injured swimmer was holding onto a paddleboard when Gamache reached her. Seeing the extent of her injuries, he used a rope from his boat as a tourniquet to slow the bleeding.
“It was a terrible injury, bones poking out, blood everywhere. Obviously, the minutes mattered,” Gamache told the outlet.
The father and son helped the remaining swimmers get on their boat before rushing to shore, where emergency responders were waiting. The woman was taken to hospital for treatment.
Her family later confirmed she survived the attack but required her arm to be amputated because of the severity of her injuries. She was discharged from hospital on Sunday and is recovering at home. It’s unclear how much of her arm she lost.
Authorities said a licensed trapper was called in to locate the alligator, which was found later that day. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers said the 9 foot, 8 inch alligator was removed.
Florida has an estimated 1.3 million wild alligators living in all 67 counties, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Gamache said he later received a call from the woman’s family expressing gratitude for his actions.
“They called earlier and we talked for a while and it was heartwarming to hear them explain their emotions,” Gamache told Fox.
The incident comes weeks after a fatal alligator attack in Florida on June 28.