A Florida fisherman reportedly lost a hand in an alligator attack. "He took his hand off ... Hand is gone!" a witness who called 911 reported Sunday, per WOFL. A second 911 caller described a man "moaning and groaning constantly," per WKMG. The unnamed male was reeling in a catch in a pond in Leesburg's Pennbrooke Fairways neighborhood when the fish attracted the attention of the alligator, witness Ron Priest tells WOFL. He says the gator went after the fish but ultimately bit off the hand of the fisherman.
"What we don't know is if the guy was trying to unhook the fish," says Priest. "While the guy was on the ground, the gator got the guy in the hand, and the two rolled." The fisherman was airlifted to a hospital in Orlando, according to Lake County Fire Rescue. Priest says his hand was retrieved and transported, too, "in the odd chance that it could have been re-attached." Officials didn't comment on the severity of the man's injuries or whether replantation took place, per WKMG. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it had no choice but to shoot the "nuisance gator," who had returned to the pond and measured more than 9 feet long. (More alligator stories.)
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