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Central Florida woman survives alligator attack, faces weeks of recovery
WSVN-TV7 ^ | JULY 17, 2024 | Staff

Posted on 07/18/2024 1:07:16 PM PDT by Red Badger

TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. (WSVN) — A Central Florida woman is on the road to recovery after surviving an alligator attack on the Fourth of July.

Rachél Thompson said she went for a morning run and decided to take a dip in the river when danger struck.

“I’m basically standing in shallow water and I look from the dark water, out of nowhere appear the ripples of a giant alligator head,” Thompson recounted.

The gator lunged and bit down on Thompson’s leg. She started fighting for her life, punching the animal in the snout and trying to free herself.

“The thought came to my mind ‘This is your last move and the next, his next is to roll you,’ and I just screamed and I pried as hard as I could.”

Her efforts worked as she freed herself and pulled herself up back onto her dock.

Thompson was rushed to the hospital where she needed emergency surgery. Luckily, her injuries weren’t as bad as they could have been.

“None of the major nerves were severed. One clean fracture to the fibula the small bone,” she said.

Even though Thompson came away with cuts and a fractured fibula, she knows others have suffered worse fates.

“I’ve heard a lot of these stories and I’ve heard a lot of tragic stories, lost lives or lost limbs,” she said.

While wildlife officials say attacks by alligators are rare in Florida, they remind people to always be aware of their surroundings and not go into bodies of water where alligators are known to lurk.

After everything Thompson has been through, she’s just happy to walk away with only scars.

“I have a lot of scars and it’s amazing the more that you get in life, the more you realize people don’t pick up on them, they don’t notice them. I think this one might be different. I think this one might be a bit more noticeable,” she said.

A licensed trapper subsequently put the alligator down following the incident and was euthanized.

It weighed more than 400 pounds and measured over 10 feet.

Thompson is expected to make a full recovery but must stay off her feet for six to eight weeks.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Local News; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: alligator; alligatorattack; attack; florida; gator
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I played a round of golf at a course in the Florida panhandle with a guy from the midwest. He hit a ball in to the water. There were signs warning golfers to not go after balls hit into the water. He ignored it because the ball was sitting on a log sitting in about 6 inches of water. He reached out to get his ball and got a very toothy greeting from the “log”. Dude ran to the cart and wouldn’t get out of it. He just rode for the rest of the round.


41 posted on 07/18/2024 2:43:19 PM PDT by Texas resident (Biden=Obama=Jarrett=Soros)
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To: dfwgator

Yeah .
And one less
Nyer invader vote for Pres Dr Evil .


42 posted on 07/18/2024 2:44:11 PM PDT by ncalburt ( Gop DC Globalists are the evil )
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To: dfwgator

Yeah .
And its a shame almost one less
Nyer invader vote for Pres Dr Evil .


43 posted on 07/18/2024 2:46:09 PM PDT by ncalburt ( Gop DC Globalists are the evil )
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To: Red Badger

Hi.

Should I do this free of charge?

Okay, Florida man here. Yes I post with my real name.

Florida has snakes, alligators, spiders, muck that burnss (seriously). hurricanes, tornados and Florida man.

Don’t come here if you are a liberal from NY etc. we are armed, all of us.

Trust me, Florida man is nuts.

5.56mm

This has been a PSA.


44 posted on 07/18/2024 3:01:50 PM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho have got to go. )
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To: Red Badger

Florida woman???


45 posted on 07/18/2024 3:04:38 PM PDT by SuperLuminal ( Where is Samuel Adams when we so desperately need him)
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To: Ezekiel

Yes, or it’s piranhas......... those happen from time to time......


46 posted on 07/18/2024 3:20:10 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

You’re from Florida. Would you go in water like that? I mean, is that a thing down there?


47 posted on 07/18/2024 3:31:41 PM PDT by moovova ("The NEXT ELECTION is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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To: moovova

No way, Jose!!!!!....


48 posted on 07/18/2024 3:33:36 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: null and void

Happily munching on the sewing machine operators.

Good play on words, though.


49 posted on 07/18/2024 3:40:26 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer” )
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To: Red Badger
While wildlife officials say attacks by alligators are rare in Florida, they remind people to always be aware of their surroundings and not go into bodies of water where alligators are known to lurk.

As a former Floridian for over 40 years, that would be EVERY body of water big enough to hold an alligator, including deep puddles...I'm not kidding.

50 posted on 07/18/2024 3:43:18 PM PDT by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: Nervous Tick

😄I was getting ready to comment on that beauty of a sentence, but I decided to scroll down first to see if someone had caught it.


51 posted on 07/18/2024 3:58:20 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Trump will be sworn in under a shower of confetti made from the tattered remains of the Rat Party.)
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To: Red Badger

TEMPLE TERRACE?!! Say it ain’t so!

(Sorry, to those living in TT. I couldn’t help myself.)


52 posted on 07/18/2024 4:18:34 PM PDT by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
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To: Red Badger

“..and not go into bodies of water where alligators are known to lurk....”

Must have been a democrat...all Florida waters have alligators or pythons. Democrats make excellent predator skat.


53 posted on 07/18/2024 4:31:52 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Nervous Tick

Silver Springs crystal clear.


54 posted on 07/18/2024 4:33:14 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: desertsolitaire

Stick your hand in, is it wet?
There’s a gator in there


55 posted on 07/18/2024 8:56:25 PM PDT by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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To: Red Badger
Is this alligator habitat range map correct?


56 posted on 07/19/2024 6:42:34 AM PDT by Tom Tetroxide
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To: Tom Tetroxide

Pretty much......................


57 posted on 07/19/2024 6:44:01 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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