MIAMI – The heartbroken boyfriend of alligator attack victim Brittany Clark has shared one of her last messages to him as she lay injured.
Brittany was with her boyfriend Chance Allison and their roommate Jayden Hernandez on Sunday when a massive alligator attacked, severing her arms while she sat in the Econlockhatchee River located in the Little Big Econ State Forest.
Allison fought to wrest Brittany away from the 13-foot alligator that had a grip on her.
Tragically, the situation escalated quickly. “We were all sitting together in about three feet of water, just enjoying the day when… it just happened,” Allison, 30, recounted. “We were chatting and smiling, and then suddenly, it was chaos.”
“Brittany told me to look after Hawky while we waited for help. Those were some of the last words she said. Honestly, I can’t recall much after that.”
Awful body camera footage presented on Thursday showed firsthand efforts by Florida deputies to rescue Clark.
You could see responders rushing through the vegetation, emerging on the riverbank. Clark was under a tent she used to shield herself from the intense Florida sunlight.
Allison, who works independently as a bin hauler, mentioned he wanted to clarify what had transpired that day. “I never intended to bring attention to this. I just want the story to be accurate,” he explained.
He expressed frustration about misleading information circulating, saying, “It’s upsetting, but people will think what they want.”
Allison rejected claims from an anonymous hiker that he warned their group against entering the water. “No one told us to stay out,” he asserted. “We spoke to one person, and honestly, I didn’t hear any warnings—it was just a casual chat about coming there with a dog.”
He added that he didn’t perform CPR on Clark; instead, he prioritized keeping her calm and applying pressure to her wounds to stop the bleeding.
Additionally, he emphasized that their dog was not in the water but was on the shore trying to stay clear of the alligator while he and Jayden worked to get Brittany to safety.
Allison said he and his family are now making arrangements for Brittany’s funeral while planning a celebration of her life. “She was an amazing person,” he reflected. “Brittany loved the outdoors and was the most energetic person you could meet. Every weekend we made sure to spend time on the water—kayaking, boating—you name it.”
