Better look before you leap… or swim!
According to Florida state wildlife officials today, a teenager swimming in a river lost his right arm while swimming when an alligator at least 10 feet long lunged at him!
17 year old Kaleb Langdale survived the attack yesterday in the Caloosahatchee River (west of Okeechobee). The alligator was caught and killed and the arm was retrieved, but doctors were unable to reattach it.
“We found the alligator that was responsible,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Jorge Pino said. “We were able to kill the alligator and dissect the alligator, remove the arm and transport the arm to the hospital to see if the doctors could reattach the limb.”
The teen was rushed to a Fort Myers hospital and his condition is currently unknown, but his friends reported to a Fort Myers television station that he was in good spirits. His condition was not available early Tuesday. His friends told Fort Myers television station WBBH ( bit.ly/NljdlO) that while the arm could not be reattached, Langdale was in good spirits.
Some interesting facts. Since 1948, 224 people have suffered major alligator bites, including 22 fatal bites, according to June 2011 conservation commission data.
And, last month, an airboat captain was giving a tour in southwest Florida when a 9-foot alligator bit off his left hand. The Indiana family on the boat said the captain had hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water’s surface when the alligator bit him.
