Newly released 911 recordings capture the chaotic moments after an alligator attacked a Florida woman, leaving her with severe injuries.
Dina Spann, 58, was swimming with a group in the Silver River near Ray Wayside Park in Marion County in August. She survived, but lost her right arm below the elbow and part of a finger on her left hand.
In one call, a witness told the dispatcher that an alligator had bitten someone and that the woman’s arm was badly injured. Another recording includes a woman screaming and crying while a man tells the dispatcher they are on the Silver River. A caller says Spann’s arm is gone.
Spann’s son, Zach Guerrina, later said his mother tried to hold the alligator’s jaws open so she could get away. She was also trying to stop it from reaching her legs, he said.
Park visitor John Gamache recalled seeing an alligator charge toward the swimmers with its head above the water. He rushed over in his boat and described Spann’s injuries as horrific, saying the response time was critical.
Spann was taken to a hospital and was in good spirits when she returned home, according to a local report. Her family later called Gamache to thank him. He said speaking with them and hearing about their feelings was heartwarming.
Other alligator attacks have been reported in Florida this year. Earlier in the year, a child was hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life-threatening after being bitten on the arm and leg while swimming in a restricted nature preserve.
In October, a nearly 12-foot alligator killed a 71-year-old man who was fishing along the shore of Lake Apopka. Authorities said it was Florida’s second fatal alligator attack of the year.
