12-foot gator bites off man's arm in Lake Moultrie; doctors try to reattach
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Alligator Attack
A large alligator attacked a man swimming in Lake Moultrie Sunday September 16, 2007.
MONCKS CORNER — A 12-foot alligator bit off and swallowed a man's arm this afternoon in Lake Moultrie.
Department of Natural Resource officers then shot the 600-pound gator and retrieved the Summerville man's arm from its belly, DNR officers and witnesses said.
Doctors at the Medical University are trying to reattach the man's arm.
Witnesses say Bill Hedden, 59, was snorkeling in the lake at the Short Stay Navy Outdoor Recreation Area when the gator attacked around 3:45 p.m.
DNR officers were called and shot the gator, then cut open its belly where they found the arm.
A group of people attending a Filipino religious gathering at the park offered their cooler and ice so the arm could be stored.
The man was airlifted to MUSC while an ambulance transported the arm to the hospital. A DNR officer escorted the ambulance.
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Comments
bjjmom (anonymous) says...
We send our prayers to Mr. Hedden and family
September 16, 2007 at 8:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
sprigs, that was good.
That poor man. How horrible for him and his family. I wish they would have open season for those damn gators. They are getting to be quite a danger to everyone.
September 16, 2007 at 8:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cholm310 (anonymous) says...
I don't mean to be heartless but snorkeling in the lake??? Not much to see. And be aware of your surroundings. It isn't hard to miss a 12-foot 600-pound aligator. Get out of the water. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out.
September 16, 2007 at 8:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
Those things lie on the bottom of the lake. I have even seen them while flying over in a plane. If the man was out deep then it could have come up directly under him. Those gators appear lazy, but they are really very fast.
I hope that the doctors are successful with the reattachment.
September 16, 2007 at 9:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bluebird (anonymous) says...
Said the 600 Pound Alligator after eating snorkeler's arm, "taste like chicken!"
September 16, 2007 at 9:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MotoryachtSoCo (anonymous) says...
Snorkeling? You have got to be kidding? Another ding dong idiot proving Darwin was correct again.
September 16, 2007 at 10:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beemz (anonymous) says...
Oh my ....I really hope the Doctors can reattach this man's arm...
My prayers to you in the difficult times ahead.
God Bless
September 16, 2007 at 10:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LadyGator (anonymous) says...
Was he wearing Tennessee attire?
All joking aside, I totally agree with cholm310. I hate that they killed that Gator. It was in IT'S home. We all know that there are wild gators in the area. (Heck, most areas have posted warning signs.) We also know that there are sharks in the ocean. When we enter their domain, we enter at our own risk. How horrible that the animal must die because someone decides "It won't happen to me!" ... and then it does.
If you put yourself at risk, it's your fault and yours alone. I've told my family over and over that if I do something stupid (say, go swimming where I know alligators might be lurking or swimming in the ocean during dawn or dusk) and I get injured or killed that they are to make it known that I would NOT want the animal put down. Relocate it, put it in a sanctuary, something ... don't kill it.
My heart does go out to this man and I hope he recovers quickly. But it's still no ones fault but his own.
September 17, 2007 at 3:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dolphin3 (anonymous) says...
Those of you that are making jokes about this attack like bluebird and motoryachtsoco... put yourself in the families place..... now it's not so funny is it. I hope you never have to find out that something like this has every happened to someone you love.
September 17, 2007 at 2:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sethp (anonymous) says...
for all those who really sympathize for an alligator....give me a break. when a dog bites a human it is nearly always put to sleep, not relocated into a wild habitat. and if we do that to mans best friend, what makes an alligator any better? the fact remains that the lake is better off with one less gator around. this guy wasnt neccessarily stupid, it was a gator doing what gators do. i am personally glad we returned the favor to the arm snatching SOB because if we keep relocating and babying the dinosaurs we'll have another florida. in my opinion theyve survived 60million years too long already. i dont care that it was ITS home....it was MY smimming hole.
all respects to the man and his family. i hope he recovers soon.
September 18, 2007 at 1:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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