An alligator attacked a group of kayakers in Florida, nearly severing a woman’s arm — before a heroic man in her group saved them by poking it in the eye.
Christiane Salvador, 64, was with her husband in a group of about 20 people kayaking on Tiger Creek when she felt something “bump” her paddle — then snapping it in half, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report obtained by WSVN.
Salvador’s kayak tipped over — and she was heard screaming, “There’s an alligator on my arm!”
Her husband tried to drag her on top of the overturned kayak, but one of her arms was still stuck below the surface as the 8-foot-long female alligator clamped down on her arm around the elbow.
Another kayaker in the group heroically tried to rescue the attacked woman, just for the gator to bite his life vest and try to drag him under the water.
The unidentified man then “stuck [his] fingers deep into the gator’s eyes” — giving him time to unbuckle his life vest, with the alligator then drifting away with it, the report said.
Salvador’s elbow and arm were mangled and almost entirely detached, according to newly released horrific images of the aftermath of the accident from early March.
She was ultimately saved from losing it, but will need several reconstructive surgeries as well as physical therapy to regain use of it, doctors said.
The raging gator exhibited “protective” and “territorial” behavior, reptile expert Kim Titterington told the outlet, suggesting it was due to it being mating and nesting season.
“If you walk out back, and you’re sitting in your lawn chair, and all of a sudden a parade of 20 people just walk through your backyard, you are going to feel like you need to defend your space,” she said.
Alligator hunters killed the gator after the attack, the outlet reported.
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