< img src="https://savageventures.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/florida-everglades-rescue-cover.png?w=1200"alt =""> A South Carolina man is fortunate to be alive after an alligator assaulted him in a river where he was diving. Will Georgitis told regional news that he was diving recently for fossilized shark teeth in Cooper River, when he emerged, just to discover an aggressive alligator beelining it towards him.
Georgitis says the gator was moving so quickly to close the 20-foot space between them that it appeared like it was “practically hydroplaning on the top [of the water]” He had no time at all to get to security before the alligator bit Georgitis’s arm, which he was holding up to obstruct his face.
In the minutes that followed, Georgitis made some choices that saved his life. First, since he anticipated the gator would death roll him to attempt to get his arm off, he latched the rest of his body to the gator’s head and neck. (Crocodiles and alligators utilize a relocation called a death roll to drown and/or dismember large victim products that are fighting back.)
The gator pulled him undersea and rolled, but Georgitis rolled with him. He then stabbed the animal in the eye with the screwdriver he was using for his riverbed fossil search. The gator still didn’t release the guy’s arm, and it then dove him to the bottom of the river.
Georgitis informed WBCD 2 that he had extremely little air left in his SCUBA tank, and he believed he was going to die down there.
A Second Chance at Life
Out of air, 50 feet down in the murk, Georgitis continued to stab at the alligator, which still had his arm in its jaws and was now bearing down on top of him. Georgitis struck true, perhaps sticking his screwdriver in a soft spot of the gator’s jaw, and he in some way secured free. He’s not completely sure how.
After resurfacing, his arm hanging “like a noodle,” Georgitis says a person in a boat helped him get to shore, and then to a healthcare facility.
See as Georgitis informs part of the story:
If you wish to help Georgitis with his medical costs, you can send him a Venmo @William-Georgitis-1.
A man is lucky to be alive after an alligator attacked him in a river where he was diving. It’s just an advantage he had a screwdriver.