Posted on 06/12/2021 12:56:15 PM PDT by simpson96
SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida man is recovering after surviving an alligator attack over the weekend.
Jeffrey Heim was diving in the Myakka River on Sunday looking for megalodon teeth when he was attacked from behind by an alligator.
“I thought it was a boat it hit me so fast or it felt like it was so fast,” the 25-year-old said.
He told our sister station WFLA he wasn’t in the water for very long when the attack happened. He thinks the alligator was about 9 feet long and possibly a female. It’s currently alligator mating season in Florida.
“I look up and the gator is right in front of me and we are looking at each other and we are both confused,” added Heim.
Heim now has 34 stitches in his head, a minor skull fracture and bite marks on one of his hands. Doctors told him there is no brain damage from the attack, which he said is a miracle. He will have the stitches for at least a few weeks.
“If it would have got me anywhere else, it could have been a different story. The chance of me walking away from that is why it is a miracle,” said Heim.
He is also grateful for the good Samaritans who called 911 and took care of him while he waited for the ambulance to arrive.
While Heim recovers from his injuries, he is unable to work at his job as a personal trainer.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox8.com ...
Why don’t you post that on your blog and then excerpt it here? [He says helpfully]
We used to drink at a bar called Whitey’s Fish Camp outside of Middleburg FL. We’d get hammered on Jack, sit on the edge of the dock and watch hundreds of glowing eyes.
Florida decreases one’s wisdom and risk aversion...
The Myakka River is full of them. Big ones too.
I had one at a job site just outside of Blue Mountain resort.
Bears seen all over suburban Tampa!
https://patch.com/florida/carrollwood/black-bear-spotted-carrollwood-area-report-wildlife-officials
Common sense escaped him...don’t go into alligator filled waters. DAh!
For doug
Be nice to know where this photo was taken
Sez who?
Gators actually hang out at the pond there as you enter.
Pythons and Gators....beware in Florida!
If more northern state liberals took to more swimming in Florida’s rivers, lakes and swamps, America would benefit.
That’s a capital idea.
I’ll ask the mods to remove my PSA.
5.56mm
Was there in the 70’s what a trip
“I was looking for a shark’s tooth and all I got was an amorous alligator. Read more at MegalodonHunter.com”
You were at Whitey’s Fish Camp?!?
Middleburg is the home of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
went there with a bunch of knucleheads while going to A school at NAS Jax
https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/wekiwa-springs-state-park
Sorry no gators in this park or the upper part of Ichetucknee.
Water is to cool for them.
I got hammered with many a NAS JAX person.
A few of the people in my neighborhood were pilots.
“We’d get hammered on Jack, sit on the edge of the dock and watch hundreds of glowing eyes.
Florida decreases one’s wisdom and risk aversion...”
We used to go fishing at night in remote lakes and watch the hundreds of glowing eyes from the flashlight beam ... and then jump in to cool off!
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