An elderly Florida fisherman trying to escape a massive 12-foot alligator slipped and fell moments before the animal clamped onto his leg and dragged him into the water, according to a report.
Steven Hamilton, 71, an experienced angler and Orlando musician, was posing with a freshly caught bass at Lake Apopka’s Dr. Bradford Memorial Park when he heard the huge alligator emerge from the water just feet away, the Daily Mail reported.
Hamilton tried to flee but lost his footing along the shoreline, giving the predator a split second to seize his left leg and pull him beneath the surface, a witness told the outlet.
“He heard the gator come out of the water and started to run away,” Jason Handley, 37, said.
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“He slipped and fell, and the gator grabbed him and dragged him into the water. It just snatched him in there,” Handley continued.
Handley said several people tried to help by throwing traffic cones at the alligator. However, they kept their distance because the lake is “infested” with alligators, including some reported to reach 15 feet long.
Handley had experienced his own close call with an alligator at the park just days before Hamilton’s attack.
“It was right by my foot, but I bonked it on the head with a fishing net,” he said.
“I told my girlfriend, somebody is going to get ate by one of these gators.”
