She Was Swimming With Friends When Alligator Attacked

An outing on Florida's Silver River just south of Gainesville turned a boater into a lifesaver after a woman was attacked by an alligator. State Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials say a woman was swimming with a group on Saturday when an alligator approached; Fox 35 reports she tried to fend it off with a paddle, but it latched onto her right arm and dragged her under.

Boater John Gamache says he heard screams and could see the alligator in the clear water a couple hundred feet away. By the time he arrived, the animal had let go of the woman, but she had suffered "a terrible injury," Gamache tells Fox 35, with "bones poking out, blood everywhere." He used a rope as a tourniquet, loaded the group onto his boat, and rushed to shore. The woman is now recovering at home. ABC News reports trappers later removed a 9-foot, 8-inch long alligator, and the Silver River has since reopened to visitors. "Growing up my whole life in Florida, I've never had a summer with this many attacks by alligators in Florida," tour guide Josh Swander tells WESH, which notes it has covered four such attacks in Central Florida this summer.