Overview
- An 11-year-old boy was attacked while releasing a fish at Nelson's Fish Camp in Marion County, Florida, on June 27, suffering multiple lower-arm fractures and the loss of his right hand at the wrist.
- His father and nearby bystanders pulled the boy from the alligator and he was rushed to hospital where surgeons performed several operations before doctors amputated the damaged hand.
- The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapped and euthanized the nearly nine-foot alligator believed to be responsible for the attack.
- The family has returned to Pennsylvania, opened a GoFundMe that has raised notable donations, and is weighing prosthetics and transplant consultations as part of a long physical and mental rehabilitation plan.
- The attack came in a short run of Central Florida alligator encounters, including a fatal attack the next day, prompting renewed public attention to FWC guidance on keeping distance from waterways, not feeding wildlife, and reporting dangerous animals.