The boyfriend of Florida hiker Brittany Clark, who tried desperately to save her during a deadly alligator attack, is mourning her loss and saying she did not deserve to die in such a terrifying way.
“I’m just still in disbelief of what took place. We had so many things planned out and memories to be made,” Chance Allison, the 31-year-old victim’s boyfriend, wrote Wednesday in an emotional Facebook post that included several photos of the couple together.
“You were such a special person and did not deserve to go out in such a way. I love you and don’t worry about shady and hokie I’ll take care of them forever,” he added, referring to Clark’s cat and dog.
Allison, 30, said he is now working to organize a “celebration of life” to honor Clark’s memory.
“Also thank you everyone for all the kind messages,” he wrote. “They really have helped me hold together just as much as I’m falling apart.”
Authorities said Allison fought to pull Clark away from a 13-foot alligator after it latched onto her while the couple and her roommate, Jayden Hernandez, were swimming Sunday in the Econlockhatchee River at Little Big Econ State Forest in Seminole County.
Audio from the frantic 911 call obtained by The Post revealed the harrowing aftermath, with a woman describing Clark’s injuries as “horrible” and saying that “one of her arms is completely off and the other one is like attached barely.”
Clark could be heard crying in the background as the dispatcher asked whether the severed arm could be located.
The Orlando victim, a bulldozer operator, died on the way to the hospital from “multiple blunt force injuries of the upper extremities,” according to a medical examiner report obtained by The Times.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said that Clark did not appear to have done anything “malicious” to provoke the alligator, and had been swimming in “about three feet of water” at the time of the attack.
“A 13-foot alligator found at the incident location, and a 12.5-foot alligator half a mile away were captured and killed,” the FWC said in a statement.
“Samples from the alligators have been collected and the FWC’s investigation into this incident remains active.”
