A Florida man survived for three days in the woods after being viciously attacked by an alligator.
On July 17, Sarasota resident Eric Merda was swimming at Lake Manatee Fish Camp when his arm was latched onto by an alligator.
“I look over and there’s a gator on my right-hand side so I went to swim and she got my forearm,” the 43-year-old Merda told WTSP.
After trying and failing to remove his arm from the gator’s mouth, Merda says the alligator went into a death roll and tore off much of his right arm. Merda managed to make it to shore and he wandered in the woods for three days with “bones poking out” of his damaged arm. He said he made a decision to follow power lines and eventually stumbled across a fence and a good Samaritan.
Merda was taken to a Sarasota hospital where most of his right arm was amputated. He says he’s still adjusting to life with only one arm. He also warned other Florida residents to leave the gators be.
“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,” Merda said.