The man was golfing at the Ocean Creek Golf Course when his ball went into a nearby pond. Bones poking out, muscles, if I try to move my fingers, you could see it twitching, he struggled to recall. He was like just help, help, help. By Claudia Cuskelly 09:59, Wed, Sep 21, 2016 | UPDATED: 10:54, Wed, Sep 21, 2016 Upon reflection of his harrowing experience, Merda said he wants to become a motivational speaker. Updated: Sep 8, 2022 / 04:54 PM EDT. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Merdas alligator encounter on July 21. Authorities are still looking for a 71-year-old Louisiana man who went missing after an alligator tore his arm off inside his shed, which was flooded during Hurricane Ida. 'They cut the fence they helped him up, and he actually walked to the ambulance.'. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. On July 17, Eric Merda was swimming across Lake Manatee when an almost-seven-foot-long alligator bit and severed his arm, according to local station WFLA News Channel 8. Click here to read more about limb reattachment surgery. When she returned, her husband was no longer lying on the steps. Of course you don't want to see anybody hurt, but it's same reason we like the crashes in NASCAR, the same reason we pay money to see a guy stick his head in a lion's mouth at the circus, and it's the same reason people jump out of . One day after Merda was rescued, Florida Fish and Wildlife told the outlet that a contractor had removed two alligators from the artificial reservoir a six-foot and a nine-foot alligator. Then, suddenly something unexpected happens. The tragic event serves as an unfortunate reminder that humans were not the only living things displaced during hurricane Ida, and flooded areas are now particularly hazardous to trek through. On July 17, Eric Merda was swimming across Lake. A young man trying to avoid Lakeland police lost his arm to an alligator in a lake Wednesday evening.\r\r\rThe ABC Action News app brings you the latest trusted news and information.\r\rABC Action News is Taking Action For You with leading local news coverage, \"Certified Most Accurate\" weather forecasts, and award-winning I-Team investigations. '", In an interview with Fox13 Tampa Bay from the time, the man who found Merda said: "I didn't know if he was dead or alive when I first walked upon him. Florida Fish and Wildlife said that a contracted alligator trapper removed a six-foot and nine-foot alligator from the lake on the day after the Merda attack, WFLA-TV reported. Garca looked to be in pain and shook his right arm a bit . Merda told the outlet that he spotted his truck across a body of water and jumped into the water figuring he could swim to his vehicle. Then, he was stretchered off to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where surgeons removed most of his right arm. Market data provided by Factset. TikTok user Amanda Leigh Demuth saw a three-legged alligator in the middle of a road during a recent visit to Fort Myers, Florida. They especially knew about Big Joe, the 11-foot-long, 500 pound monster that swam in Crystal Lake. I'm actually thriving. When Satterlees wife heard splashing Monday, she walked outside their home to see the gator attacking her husband, officials said. "More times than not it's not the people's fault that are getting attacked. We've received your submission. The alligator then launched itself upwards partially into the boat and bit (the victim) on his right arm and began to spin, amputating the arm at about the middle of the forearm, the report states. It turned out to be "not the smartest decision a Florida boy could make," Merda told Florida news station 10 Tampa Bay on September 5. Each time, he fought his way back to the surface. IIRC the trick to this is that the crocodile will not close its mouth unless something touches its tongue. Feeding alligators can also decrease their fear of people and lead to attacks, Kinler said. FORT MYERS-NAPLES, Fla. -- An attempt to remove an alligator found at a Florida home led to a man with a bite to his arm. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) there are an estimated 1.3 million alligators in the state that inhabit all wild areas that can support them. Funck and two friends from Slidell, La., about 20 miles northeast of New Orleans, had trudged half a mile to a small pond called Crystal Lake for a swim Wednesday afternoon. The man was participating in the Statewide Alligator Harvest at the time of the incident, according to the commission. He deserved to get that arm ripped off for being so fucking stupid, if you ask me. There is a high probability that he is deceased, but we cant make that call until we recover the body.. "At first, I . 'Bones poking out, muscles, if I try to move my fingers, you could see it twitching,' he said. "I was reborn for a reason, and I believe that is to motivate people," Eric Merda told WFLA about the July incident. Between 1948 and 2021, there were 442 unprovoked bite incidents in the state, 26 of which were fatal. Officials say a man was attacked by an alligator in some of those flooded Louisiana waters Monday. Now, Merda's family is asking for financial help to help him adjust to his new life. "I came out the swamp, naked, with one arm," he said. Merda was immediately flown to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where doctors amputated the remnants of his arm. I look over and theres [an alligator] on my right-hand side so I went to swim and she got my forearm so I grabbed her like this, she was trying to roll but she snapped her head so my arm went backwards like this completely, Merda recalled. Florida Man Who Got Arm Bitten Off By Alligator and Survived in Swamp Gives Wild Interview. On 1 February 2018, the dubious web site World News Daily Report published a fake news article about a Greenpeace activist who had his arm bitten off by a shark after they tried to give it a hug . All rights reserved. Officials are warning residents not to feed alligators which is not only illegal but can also cause alligators to be more aggressive toward people and associate them with food availability. Officials were not sure why the alligator attacked the boy, although in warm weather they feed more often, Kinler said. 8/16/2021 12:05 PM PT. Eric Merda, 43, lost his arm to an alligator while swimming in Florida lake (Fox 13 Tampa Bay) After the alligator finally retreated, Merda says he was injured and lost in the swamp for three. 13:34 BST 08 Sep 2022, A Florida man survived for three days in a swamp after an alligator ripped off his arm while he was attempting to swim in the lake - a move he admits was 'not the smartest decision a Florida boy can make.'. According to NBC News, a 71 year-old man was walking in the floodwaters outside his home in Slidell, Louisiana when he was attacked by an alligator. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. KSLTV.com. We cover the funniest, craziest and most talked-about stories on the internet. An off-duty scientist decided to lend a helping hand in 2012 when an alligator was spotted along Highway 70 in North Carolina. They cut the harpoon lines and looked for a residence to stop for help. "With a bone poking out and a lot of pain, the whole three days I was screaming at the top of my lungs," he said. A Louisiana Man Had His Arm Bitten Off By An Alligator Walking In Hurricane Idas Floodwaters, And Then He Vanished, The Best Coachella 2023 Performances Were Reflections Of Pure Joy, My (Non-Anonymous) Ballot For The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, HBOs White House Plumbers Delivers An Absurd Historical Snapshot And A Knockout Performance From Justin Theroux, The Rundown: Ted Lasso Has Created A Delightful Little I Think You Should Leave Conundrum, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. But as soon as he entered the lake, a crocodile surfaced, clamping down on his left arm and ripping the limb off from below the elbow.\r\rForest department officials rescued Dandwate, and he was rushed to the hospital for treatment. FLORIDA MAN WIELDING MACHETE DEAD AFTER BREAKING INTO HOME, TELLING SLEEPING RESIDENT 'I LOVE YOU', Lake Manatee Fish Camp, Myakka City Florida (Fox 13 Tampa Bay), "I'm thriving," Merda said. October 9, 2009 / 1:08 PM / AP. or redistributed. While power outages and demolished buildings each come with their own unique set of challenges, a heartbreaking story has drawn attention to just how dangerous a simple walk down your street could be post-hurricane. Heim was in the . Market data provided by Factset. A Louisiana Man Had His Arm Bitten Off By An Alligator Walking In Hurricane Ida's Floodwaters, And Then He Vanished Jessica Howard Contributing Writer Instagram Twitter September 1,. A furious crocodile snapped back at its trainer, biting his arm in front of dozens of spectators at a show in Northern Thailand. "It's too bad someone didn't contact us to get it out of there.". Fla. Man Hospitalized After Alligator Bites His Face During Swim Near Tampa, 11-Foot Alligator Attacks and Kills Florida Woman, 85, Who Was Walking Her Dog, Florida Alligator Stuck in Pond with Her Mouth Taped Shut Is Rescued and Freed After 2 Months, Meet the Fla. Man Who Survived Days Lost in Swamp After Gator Took His Arm: 'I'm No Longer Afraid of Death', All About Kara Robinson, Whose Daring Escape from Captivity Led to Her Predator's Capture, Man Killed in Suspected Alligator Attack While Looking for Frisbees at Florida Park, Police Say, Firefighter-Paramedic Who Survived Alligator Attack in Fla. Lake: 'I Shouldn't Be Alive', Florida Man, 59, Killed in Car Crash After Colliding with 11-Foot Alligatorin Roadway, Fla. Man Attacked by 7-Foot Alligator Outside Motel After Mistaking It For a Dog, Man Helps Rescue 77-Year-Old Woman Attacked by Alligator at Retirement Community: 'He Saved Her', 'Really Brave' Girl, 10, Fights Off Shark That Almost Took Her Foot in Attack at Florida Beach, Florida Man Has Hand Amputated After Alligator Attack His Second Attack in 9 Years, 10-Year-Old Boy Still 'in Good Spirits' After Losing Part of His Leg in Shark Attack, Knife Attacker 'Neutralized' by French Police After Stabbing 6 People at Paris Railway Station, Mom of Boy Thrown Off Balcony at Mall of America Speaks Out, Passenger Who Fell Off Cruise Ship Was 'Dead Set' on Surviving 20-Hour Ordeal: 'My Worst Fear Is Drowning'. In May, 47-year-old Thomas McGuinness died after he was injured by an alligator while at Taylor Lake in Largo. VIDEO: Bear, two cubs stroll down Orange County neighborhood sidewalk. A stock photo shows an alligator in a Florida swamp. Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. 'I look over and there's a gator on my right-hand side,' he told 10 Tampa Bay. , updated "It had been pulled from the shoulder.". "He's got a long way to go, lots of surgery. I'm going up, and I'm not coming back down.". An alligator trapper was dispatched to the scene, but it is not known if the animal which attacked Merda was found. 02:13 - Source: WFTS Latest Videos 17 videos Drone footage captures. She managed to pulled him away from the animal before running to call for help but was forced to take a boat due to the high waters and lack of cell service, WWL-TV reported. After a gator bit Eric Merdas arm off while swimming in Lake Manatee, he spent three exhausting days on the swamp with one arm, Tampas WTSP reports. Merda claims hes adjusting to a new routine with a different outlook, and he wants to warn other people about the need for caution in Florida waterways. "It's do or die," Merda explained. Then the gator lunged at me and I backed up so that my fins were facing . Only 13 fatalities were recorded nationally since 2000, and none was in Louisiana. Timothy Satterlee was attacked by the scaly beast on Monday at his home in Slidell, where his shed was under several feet of water during the storm surge near Lake Pontchartrain. But family friend Cory Dunn said the effort was unsuccessful. He said he spent three days trying to find his way out of the swamp. Woman bitten twice by shark while boogie boarding at New Smyrna Beach, beach officials say. People living in the area know about the alligators that swim in the three small lakes and waterways around their houses. One of the alligators attacks him and bites down on his arm. "I was reborn for a reason, and I believe that is to motivate people.". On July 15, an 80-year-old woman was killed after she fell into the canal near her home at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club in Englewood, about 30 miles south of Sarasota. Video Claim The video claiming to show a Bungee jumper's head bitten off by a Crocodile has been circulating via email and social networking & video sharing sites for several years. Trump's latest attack addresses DeSantis' overseas trips to the U.K., Israel, Florida's Covid-19 record, and polling support for the 2024 Presidential race. All rights reserved. When you decide to walk in the door of any place with a live alligator show, there's a small, sadistic part of you that hopes something goes wrong. "Do not feed the gators and you guys know who you are, throwing rocks at them, I've seen it on the job sites, leave them gators alone," he said. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said the body of the Slidell man has not been found. The alligator's bite was so powerful bite that Heim needed 34 stitches in his head. A Florida man is speaking out after a three-day-long ordeal in which he lost his arm in an alligator attack and then got lost in a swamp. The ABC Action News app brings you the latest trusted n. The clip has garnered more than 2K likes. They searched until it got dark yesterday, and unfortunately we still havent located Mr. Satterlee, Vitter said. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football) Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. \r\rABC Action News, WFTS, covers local news in Tampa Bay and Florida. A young man trying to avoid Lakeland police lost his arm to an alligator in a lake Wednesday evening. BENGALURU, INDIA An Indian engineer is learning the hard way that even after you have been mauled by crocodiles trying to rescue your pet, the government w. Shes already got my arm, so when we came up the third time, she finally did her death roll and took off with my arm, Merda explained. With his right arm trapped, the 43-year-old from Sarasota wrapped his left arm around the gator as it dragged him underwater three times. 2023 Cox Media Group. A Florida man has lost a portion of his right leg after he was reportedly attacked by an alligator at an RV park in Brevard County. The caption of the video reads, "Just a taste". Market data provided by Factset. A Florida man who says he was attacked by an alligator is in good spirits despite losing an arm and finding himself stranded in a swamp for three days. The alligator is estimated to be over 10 feet long, weighing about 400 pounds. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. The man, who is in his 70s, was . A Florida man says he survived being lost in a swamp for three days before finding help after an alligator attack. The towels, toys and other gear that still dotted the beach Thursday testified to the spot's popularity with area kids. Legal Statement. "But it's kind of a hike to get to it, and there is no supervision there.". Officials say an alligator bit off part of a golfer's arm as he leaned over to pick up his ball at a private South Carolina course. The gator was 8 feet 9 inches long and weighed about 300 to 350 pounds. I looked at my hand and saw there was blood all over it. Natural selection does that to people.. MYAKKA CITY, Fla. ( WWSB /Gray News) - A man lost a large part of his arm when was bitten by an alligator while swimming in a Florida lake. Footage showed him wrangling with the thrashing gator. Sarasota man found naked with arm gone after gator attack, witnesses say. At least three people have died in alligator attacks in 2022 alone, including two people in Florida. They estimated the gator to be about 12 feet in length, according to the Seminole County Sheriffs Office. "He will no longer be able to do the work he loves, and many other things he loved doing," his aunt Evelyn James wrote in a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe, titled 'my nephew the born survivor, gets attacked.'. "After four hours without blood you begin to get irreversible damage to the muscle.
