In a harrowing incident, Will Georgitis, a diver, encountered a near-fatal alligator attack in the Cooper River, South Carolina. While surfacing from a dive, he was attacked by an alligator, which pinned his arm underwater.
Georgitis fought back, stabbing the gator with a screwdriver, but it dragged him 50 feet down and clamped its jaws around his arm, causing his oxygen tank to empty. Realizing the severity of the situation, Georgitis summoned all his strength to rip his arm free from the gator’s grip.
With his arm severely broken, Georgitis managed to swim to a friend’s fishing boat and was rushed to the hospital. He underwent extensive treatment for the wounds caused by the alligator’s teeth and will likely need multiple surgeries and six months of recovery.
The incident is under investigation by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. While alligator attacks are rare in the state, it has witnessed at least six fatalities since 2016. The presence of alligators, which are federally protected species, remains a reminder of the potential hazards in certain aquatic environments.
