A Florida man had his arm severed in an attack by a massive 10-foot alligator during the early hours of Sunday morning.The gator attack took place at a pond located behind Banditos Bar in Port Charlotte. The victim sustained severe injuries and was immediately airlifted to Gulf Coast Medical Center for urgent medical attention, according to a report from WBBH.The 23-year-old victim, Jordan Rivera, told WBBH he fell into the pond near closing time. He said he went out back because the bathroom lines were long. “So I ended up walking over to the water hole — I didn’t realize how big it was at the time. As I was going over there, something happened where I either tripped or the ground below me just went down,” Rivera said. “I ended up in the water. And that’s literally the last thing I remember.”“Those gators, I didn’t truly understand them until I woke up in the hospital and, ‘Oh, gator got your arm,” he said.Only hours after losing the limb, Rivera remains shockingly optimistic.“I didn’t lose my life; I lost an arm. It’s not the end of the world, you know,” said Rivera. “They got my elbow. So, I don’t have an elbow…I can still move my arm around and whatnot.”His mother agrees.“That’s the best thing is that I have him. Yes, arm gone, very traumatic. But he’s here,” Teresa Lessa said. She is grateful for the people at the bar who helped her son immediately after the accident.“I call them angels that were there, that saved his life,” Lessa said. “The chance of someone being there with a tourniquet, to me, it’s a miracle that he’s here.”Rivera rejects rumors that he was feeding the gator.“That is completely not true,” he said. “They don’t even serve food at that bar, so I couldn’t have even served the gator food.”Doctors are focused on keeping the infection from spreading. The 10-foot gator responsible for taking Rivera’s arm was euthanized. Rivera’s family has established a GoFundMe account. Mating season typically begins at the end of March or the beginning of April, and during this time, alligators are known to get territorial and defensive.“Especially the big males. Once they have their territory, they get in, they chase everything out of their territory then slowly start letting females in,” Brandon Fisher with Gatorland says.If you’re around water, Fisher says you should stay at least 25 feet away from the water’s edge. If you see alligators, he says it’s illegal to feed or harass them.He also recommends being extra cautious if you’re walking a pet.“Alligators, especially adult alligators, see pets as easy meals, especially small pets, small dogs, cats. They don’t see people as food. We’re way too big for them. They eat small things, turtles, fish and birds, but a pet is an easy meal. They’re opportunistic feeders,” he said.
A Florida man had his arm severed in an attack by a massive 10-foot alligator during the early hours of Sunday morning.
The gator attack took place at a pond located behind Banditos Bar in Port Charlotte. The victim sustained severe injuries and was immediately airlifted to Gulf Coast Medical Center for urgent medical attention, according to a report from WBBH.
The 23-year-old victim, Jordan Rivera, told WBBH he fell into the pond near closing time. He said he went out back because the bathroom lines were long.
“So I ended up walking over to the water hole — I didn’t realize how big it was at the time. As I was going over there, something happened where I either tripped or the ground below me just went down,” Rivera said. “I ended up in the water. And that’s literally the last thing I remember.”
“Those gators, I didn’t truly understand them until I woke up in the hospital and, ‘Oh, gator got your arm,” he said.
Only hours after losing the limb, Rivera remains shockingly optimistic.
“I didn’t lose my life; I lost an arm. It’s not the end of the world, you know,” said Rivera. “They got my elbow. So, I don’t have an elbow…I can still move my arm around and whatnot.”
His mother agrees.
“That’s the best thing is that I have him. Yes, arm gone, very traumatic. But he’s here,” Teresa Lessa said.
She is grateful for the people at the bar who helped her son immediately after the accident.
“I call them angels that were there, that saved his life,” Lessa said. “The chance of someone being there with a tourniquet, to me, it’s a miracle that he’s here.”
Rivera rejects rumors that he was feeding the gator.
“That is completely not true,” he said. “They don’t even serve food at that bar, so I couldn’t have even served the gator food.”
Doctors are focused on keeping the infection from spreading.
The 10-foot gator responsible for taking Rivera’s arm was euthanized.
Rivera’s family has established a GoFundMe account.
Mating season typically begins at the end of March or the beginning of April, and during this time, alligators are known to get territorial and defensive.
“Especially the big males. Once they have their territory, they get in, they chase everything out of their territory then slowly start letting females in,” Brandon Fisher with Gatorland says.
If you’re around water, Fisher says you should stay at least 25 feet away from the water’s edge. If you see alligators, he says it’s illegal to feed or harass them.
He also recommends being extra cautious if you’re walking a pet.
“Alligators, especially adult alligators, see pets as easy meals, especially small pets, small dogs, cats. They don’t see people as food. We’re way too big for them. They eat small things, turtles, fish and birds, but a pet is an easy meal. They’re opportunistic feeders,” he said.
