SANIBEL, Fla. — A worker was seriously injured Thursday after he was bitten by an alligator while working near a pond in Southwest Florida, authorities said.
According to the Sanibel Fire & Rescue District, the 25-year-old man, an Arkansas resident, was attacked around 11:06 a.m. along a pond near Bailey’s General Store, WFXT-TV reported.
When officers arrived, they learned the victim had been using the pond to wash his hands, WINK-TV reported. After the alligator bit him, the victim was able to free himself and call 911. People at the scene applied a tourniquet until medical assistance arrived, according to the television station.
“He was by the water’s edge where the gator is known to be, and the gator reached up and grabbed his arm,” Benjamin Abo, Sanibel’s fire medical director, told WINK.
The man sustained a serious injury to his right forearm and was taken to an area hospital, WINK reported.
“He’s a big guy, he said his arm was hurting pretty good,” Sanibel Fire’s Division Chief Tim Barrett told WFTX. “But he’s a pretty tough old boy. Lost a lot of blood, but he’s fine.”
Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and a Florida state trapper arrived on the scene at about 2 p.m. EST to capture the alligator, WBBH-TV reported. The alligator, which measured 9 feet, 2 inches long, was removed from the property, according to the television station.
FWC’s gator trappers gave us a close up of the gator after it was captured. There were three in the truck, but the one from the attack is the biggest one. They did say the gator will be put asleep.
— Briana Brownlee (@BreBrownleeTV) December 15, 2022
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The alligator will be euthanized, WFXT reported.
Barrett said alligators are part of Florida’s landscape and citizens should be wary around water.
“Pretty much every body of water has an alligator in it, including some swimming pools,” Barrett told the television station.
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