Man attacked by gator, arm snapped off

[marmar]

MIAMI - There have been at least a half dozen alligator attacks this season around the Tampa Bay area.

Eric Merda is one of those who lived to tell his story.

He said on July 17th, he got lost in the woods at the Lake Manatee Fish Camp in Myakka City. When he finally found the lake, he decided to swim across rather than walk around.

"Not the smartest decision a Florida boy could make," Merda said. "I looked over and there's a gator 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 backward like this completely." ..............(more)

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-man-attacked-by-gator-arm-snapped-off/

[Ray Bruns]

1. Florida man

[hlthe2b]

2. Why walk when you can leisurely swim across an alligator-infested lake/pond?

Yeah, that's the ticket.

[gratuitous]

3. Ear worm born

[bmbmd]

5. Snapped off gone

Clean up to the elbow.

[Docreed2003]

6. Lmao...love that someone posted this. Great stuff

[Ponietz]

4. Hold his beer--not to be outdone:

[link:https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/taos-county-sheriff-man-cuts-off-foot-in-chain-saw-mishap/article_1ca3927a-2e11-11ed-b360-33e0e855187e.html

[imanamerican63]

7. Don't go near the water!

[BlackSkimmer]

8. I remember when I first moved to Florida. I had dogs who loved to swim.

I asked one of my Florida friends about a particular pond I lived near, if she thought there might be gators.

She said, “this is Florida, if there is a body of water, there’s a gator.” After that my pooches only swam in the ocean. Can’t imagine that guy thought that was a good idea.

I don’t live there anymore, but I never forgot that.

[Solly Mack]

9. Well

OK.

[nolabear]

10. Gators gonna gate.

[LeftInTX]

11. Oh my! He ran around for three days after his arm was chomped off...

That's just where his story begins. Merda said he spent three days trying to find his way out of the woods.

"You can't see anything. Everything's this tall, you know what I mean? Sometimes I felt like I was walking in circles, I didn't know. So I started following the sun and power lines, stuff like that, things I could see," he said.

After three days in the swamp, he said he stumbled on a fence and a man on the other side.

"I said 'hey man, I need some help' and he says 'what are you doing' and I said 'a gator got my arm,' he said 'holy smokes man'," said Merda.

[Maraya1969]

12. How did he not lose too much blood and die? 3 days? Did he put his own tourniquet?

[GreenWave]

13. Cuidado! His last name is dangerously close to mierda.