A woman was nearly dragged underwater by an eight-foot alligator as her husband clung onto her – while a second victim jammed his fingers deep into the beast’s eyes.
Christiane Salvador, 64, nearly lost her arm when she was suddenly attacked by a female alligator while kayaking with her husband Phillip and a group of 20 people on Tiger Creek in Polk County, Florida, on March 3.
Christiane first felt something ‘bump against her paddle’ before the massive alligator snapped it in half and sent her kayak flipping over into the water, she told Fox 5.
Witnesses were shocked as they watched her struggle to keep her head above water while screaming, ‘There’s an alligator on my arm.’
Her husband Phillip immediately tried to help.
He sprung into action by pulling his wife on top of his kayak but one of her arms wouldn’t come out of the water because the alligator had its jaw clamped down on Christiane’s elbow.
Another kayaker, David Morse, was about 40 yards away when he heard the commotion and saw Christiane’s torso over her husband’s kayak while it appeared to be trying to drag her back into the water.
The alligator eventually released its grip on Christiane which allowed her husband to pull her to shore where he immediately began first aid.
But when Morse tried to flip over Christiane’s capsized kayak, the same alligator launched a second attack grabbing the front of his life vest and dragging him underwater.
Morse’s quick thinking led him to stick his fingers ‘deep into the gator’s eyes.’
He then undid the buckles on his life vest and the alligator fled while still clutching the vest in its mouth.
Photos reveal the damage that was done to the life vest and paddle board after the alligator got his teeth on them.
Christiane suffered severe injuries to her right upper forearm and two puncture wounds just below her elbow.
At the time of the attack, doctors weren’t sure if her arm could be saved but eventually determined it would not need to be amputated.
She now required several reconstructive surgeries, outpatient care and physical therapy to regain full functionality of her arm and hand.
Alligator trappers later located and killed the female alligator responsible for the attack, according to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In early May, an alligator killed a woman after dragging her from her canoe while she paddled on a popular fishing lake in Florida.
The woman had been near the mouth of Tiger Creek into Lake Kissimmee, south of Orlando, when she was attacked, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said.
The woman went into the water and wasn’t seen again until her body was recovered nearby, FWC added.
And just last week, a young girl was attacked by an alligator while swimming in the shallow waters of a North Carolina lake.
Lake Waccamaw Police said that multiple children were playing in about four feet of water on Friday when one shouted, ‘Something bit me!’
All the children rushed out of the lake, and an alligator, between six and seven feet long, surfaced from the water.
Lake Waccamaw Mayor Matt Wilson told WECT he knows the 12-year-old girl who was attacked.
‘A good friend of mine called me up and let me know the situation. I was over there about 30 minutes after that,’ he said.
Authorities said the injuries sustained were serious but not life-threatening in any way.
