A Florida man survived three days in the woods after having his arm ripped off by an alligator.
The attack took place in Myakka City, south of Tampa, earlier this summer. Eric Merda was in the swamp near Lake Manatee for several days after going swimming in the water.
Just in the area around Tampa Bay, there have been at least six alligator incidents this season, 10 Tampa Bay reported.
Mr Merda told the local station that entering the waters was “not the smartest decision a Florida boy could make.” He said he became lost in the woods on 17 July, near the Lake Manatee Fish Camp. When he came across the lake, he chose to swim across it instead of walking around.
“I look over and there’s a gator on my right-hand side so I went to swim and she got my forearm so I grabbed her ... she was trying to roll but she snapped her head so my arm went backwards ... completely,” he told 10 Tampa Bay.
He added that he was taken underwater by the alligator three times: “She’s already got my arm, so when we came up the third time, she finally did her death roll and took off with my arm,” he said.
He swam back to shore and started to walk, yelling for help.
“Bones poking out, muscles, if I try to move my fingers, you could see it twitching,” he told 10 Tampa Bay, adding that the pain was indescribable. “I felt like I was walking in circles, I didn’t know. So I followed the sun and power lines, stuff I could see.”
On the third day of walking through the swamp, he encountered a fence and a man on the opposite side.
“I said a gator got my arm, he said, ‘holy smokes man!’” Mr Merda said.
At Sarasota Memorial Hospital, most of his right arm was amputated. Mr Merda has since warned others of antagonizing alligators.
“Do not feed the gators and you guys know who you are, throwing rocks at them, I’ve seen it on the job sites, leave them gators alone,” he told 10 Tampa Bay.
