12-foot gator bites off man's arm in Lake Moultrie; doctors try to reattach

The Post and Courier ^ | September 16,2007 | Andy Paras

[The Game Hen]

MONCKS CORNER — A 12-foot alligator bit off and swallowed a man’s arm this afternoon in Lake Moultrie.

Department of Natural Resource officers then shot the 600-pound gator and retrieved the Summerville man’s arm from its belly, DNR officers and witnesses said.

Doctors at the Medical University are trying to reattach the man’s arm.

Witnesses say Bill Hedden, 59, was snorkeling in the lake at the Short Stay Navy Outdoor Recreation Area when the gator attacked around 3:45 p.m.

DNR officers were called and shot the gator, then cut open its belly where they found the arm.

A group of people attending a Filipino religious gathering at the park offered their cooler and ice so the arm could be stored.

The man was airlifted to MUSC while an ambulance transported the arm to the hospital. A DNR officer escorted the ambulance.

[The Game Hen]

We spend alot of time on this lake. That poor man! Those poor picnicers! I'm praying for them and hyperventilating as I type! Somebody should give that "Dirty Jobs" show a call.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

A Farewell to Arms.

[corkoman]

Bad bad naughty.

No one had spotted a TWELVE foot gator before this attack???

[rdl6989]

That’s bad LOL.

[TASMANIANRED]

It is amazing that the arms were in good enough shape to even try...

And even more amazing that the caught the right one.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

It just continues to get tougher, day by day, for a decent gator to make a living! Hell, folks, how much temptation can you take on?

[The Game Hen]

Do you think he was hanging around waiting to finish his meal? The mind boggles!
BTW This is a huge lake about 20 miles from Charleston. Short Stay is a Navy resort. Maybe this was an “Al Gada” terrorist attack. (yuk yuk, groan, sorry)

[BallyBill]

...shot the gator, then cut open its belly where they found the arm.

Jeez!

[A_Tradition_Continues]

It is amazing that the arms were in good enough shape to even try

Gators carry some really nasty bacteria. A family friend scratched his hand on a gator's tooth while gutting his trophy. Took almost 6 months of high doses of antibiotics to finally get rid of the infection.

[11th_VA]

I bet the Filipinos ate the gator - at least his tail ...

[Ciexyz]

I had to click on the link to discover where this place was: Charleston, SC area.

[mware]

That happen a couple months ago to another guy they actually did reattach his arm.

[verity]

"Short Stay Navy Outdoor Recreation Area."

Now we know why the stay is so short.

[ExpatGator]

Yikes! Been to Short Stay more than a couple of times. Time for S.C. to manage their gator population.

Tennessee been having some Gator problems lately also. CHOMP! ;>

[The Game Hen]

Where IS that? OK. Tonight, it’s nightmares for sure!

[RichInOC]

No! BAD Elvis!

[mware]

I believe it was somewhere in Africa. There was a thread about it when it happen.

[Ditter]

Dear God what a horrible picture! Did the reattachment work? Infection?

[mware]

Yes, the reattachment worked. The guy was some kind of zoo handler, I believe an actually doctor.

The photo does have quite a shock value. The first time I saw it was on Fox & FRiends. Almost lost my breakfast.

[Texas Songwriter]

Disarmed by a gator. Muei tai. It was an ultimate submission technique used the Gator.

Seriously, that has to be a nasty operation. Gators have conical teeth and 'rip' or tear the arm off with a 'death roll'. The mouth of the gator has bacteria that have not even been discovered yet. Hope it works out for the poor fellow.