Bystander pulls gator attack victim to safety
On Friday, July 3, a 75-year-old Callawassie woman was trimming plants along the edge of her neighborhood pond when she was attacked by a 10-foot alligator. A man driving by on a golf cart saw the woman slip into the pond and raced to her aid.
David Lucas of SCDNR said the man did not know an alligator had the woman by the leg, but recognized she needed help.
“He ran to the pond and jumped in. He got his arms around her and pulled. (At first) he felt resistance, but thought that was her weight,” said Lucas.
The gator pulled both of them under briefly. And that’s when the man realized something had ahold of her. He refused to let go, and thankfully the alligator released her.
“It let them loose and they came back up. He was able to pull her out of the water,” Lucas said.
Some other community members gathered at the scene, where the 75-year-old told them that “the large gator” attacked her. Witnesses said three gators are well-known to those living there. The 10-footer was the largest of the three. It resurfaced soon after, and it was captured and euthanized. This is a common practice after a gator attacks a human.
The woman’s family said she suffered some pretty bad lacerations and several fractures from the gator attack, but is doing fairly well considering the circumstances. She’s had one surgery and expects to have more.
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