Boater rescues woman whose arm was seized by alligator on Silver River

A group of swimmers on Florida’s Silver River near Ocala was startled when an alligator lunged at a woman, clamping onto her right arm and pulling her beneath the surface. John Gamache, who was eating lunch on his boat with his father, heard the disturbance and raced upriver; the approaching vessel caused the animal to retreat. Upon reaching the victim, Gamache described severe injuries with exposed bone and profuse bleeding, and he tied off the arm with rope while his father assisted the remaining swimmers, including children, onto the boat.

They hurried to a nearby launch where emergency personnel awaited, and the woman was later discharged from the hospital, now recovering at home with the loss of her arm. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers subsequently located and removed the 9-foot-8-inch alligator, and the area was reopened. This incident follows a similar fatal attack a month earlier that also resulted in an arm loss for Brittany Clark.