Man Discusses Painful Face-To-Face Gator Encounter

POSTED: 6:02 pm EDT June 8, 2006

UPDATED: 11:25 am EDT June 9, 2006

APOPKA, Fla. -- Gator trappers resumed their search Friday for the alligator that attacked a man at a local park on Thursday afternoon. Michael Diaz, Jr. has 33 staples in his head and is sharing the story of how he escaped from the jaws of the reptile.

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At the time of the attack, Diaz was snorkeling at Kelly Springs Park in Apopka. He said he got more than he bargained for during Thursday's snorkel trip.

Diaz had just come around a corner in a canal, when he felt a thump on his head.

"And i turned around and I see this belly, the white belly of the gator, and I kinda pushed it off me and I didn't want it to bite me anymore. 'Should I hold it by its tale?' I let it go and it got away," Diaz said. "Probably a little less than four foot, like the size of child, so I don't know, probably, yeah, big," he said.

That's when Diaz realized he hadn't run into a boat or a raft. The encounter turned into an old fashioned stand-off right in the middle of the springs.

"It didn't bolt. It didn't run in fear like you'd figure a wild animal would," he said. "And it kind of eyed me down a little bit and I yelled at the other swimmers."

Diaz feels certain that the four to five foot gator did not want another swimmer moving into his territory.

"When the gator hit me in the back of the head, it bit down and I guess it didn't get a good grip because of my hard skull," he said. "I kind of pushed it off me. I didn't want it to bite me anymore [and] I let it go."

Kelly Park won't reopen until the trappers find that gator.

Diaz said he will have no trouble going back to the springs for another snorkel trip, but not until the trappers locate and remove the alligator.

So far Friday, trappers hadn't had much luck in catching the creature. Thursday night, they set traps hoping the alligator would bite.

Kelly Park was open Friday, but the swimming area will remain closed throughout the weekend at least. Officials weren't sure whether they would reopen the swimming area on Monday.

It's been a busy season for alligator attacks around the state. Last month, 23-year-old Anne Marie Campbell was killed by an 11-foot alligator in the Ocala National Forest. Two other women were also killed in alligator attacks the same week, one in south Florida and the other in Pinellas County.