An 84-year-old Florida woman was attacked by an alligator while walking her dog in Southwest Florida, resulting in the amputation of part of her leg, authorities said.
“It was like a torpedo. I didn't have time to think,” victim Dolores Boeppel said. NBC News.
The attack happened Thursday around 7 p.m. as Boeppel was walking her dog near a pond in the North Fort Myers area.
When she noticed the 7-foot-3-inch alligator looking at her, she quickly threw her small dog into the air before the animal could bite her leg, she said. NBC News.
O'Brudley Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Wildlife Commission, told The Post that Boeppel also suffered injuries to his hand and arm.
The woman, in her 80s, was taken to a local hospital where Johnson said she was in a “stable condition” and was “doing well.”
The dog was unharmed.
A separate spokesman said in an email that the crocodile had been captured and then removed.
Johnson said the alligator was “relatively average” in length, measuring 7 feet, 3 inches.
From 1948 to 2022, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: He has been bitten by crocodiles more than 450 times. It has affected people across the state, with 30 people killed. ClickOrlando.com reported:.
In June, body camera footage surfaced showing the horrific aftermath of a September 2023 alligator attack that killed a homeless Florida grandmother in Largo, a small community four miles south of Clearwater.
That same month, a homeless man who didn't follow the advice of local residents lost half his arm while swimming at 2 a.m. in Lake Monroe in Seminole County.
Boeppel did not return calls seeking comment and his answering machine was full.
