Florida woman in critical condition after alligator nearly bites off her right hand

A woman from Florida, US, is said to be in a critical condition in a hospital after an alligator nearly bit her right hand off at a fish camp in the Northwest Broward County on Friday (12 August) evening. Broward Sheriff's Fire Rescue officials said the alligator that bit the woman was about four to five feet long.

The 49-year-old victim, whose name has not been revealed, sustained "a severe hand injury that was almost a full amputation of the right hand", Mike Jachles, spokesman for the sheriff's office told reporters on Friday night.

Jachles said that the woman from Central Florida was on a visit to the Willards fish camp, located near the Palm Beach County line. The alligator bit the woman when she was trying to retrieve a dropped can from the water, he added. However, locals said that alligator attacks are rare in the area and they do not attack unless provoked.

"This woman apparently dropped a can into the water. She was standing on the dock, dropped a can into the water, and as she reached in to retrieve the can, that's when she was bitten by the alligator," Jachles said.

The spokesman further said that the people who had accompanied the victim at the site saved her life as they help on to her to prevent her from falling into the water. The people called 911, following which she was airlifted to Broward Health North in a critical condition.

Jachles said that the woman from Central Florida was on a visit to the Willards fish camp, located near the Palm Beach County line. The alligator bit the woman when she was trying to retrieve a dropped can from the water, he added. However, locals said that alligator attacks are rare in the area and they do not attack unless provoked.

"This woman apparently dropped a can into the water. She was standing on the dock, dropped a can into the water, and as she reached in to retrieve the can, that's when she was bitten by the alligator," Jachles said.