Gator attacks contractor at John Prince Park

[wcreptiles]

That's one tough worker; alligator bit me, I guess I'll bandage it with a garbage bag and keep on working, whats a little blood. Don't want to get fired maybe.

A contractor picking up litter at John Prince Park fought off an alligator who pulled him into the water by his hand today - then continued working after bandaging his own mangled limb. .... who had bandaged his hand with a trash bag and a strip of crime-scene tape left after the suicide ....

Gator attacks contractor at John Prince Park
By ANDREW MARRA

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A contractor picking up litter at John Prince Park fought off an alligator who pulled him into the water by his hand today - then continued working after bandaging his own mangled limb.

A neighbor wandering onto the island where the man was working this afternoon said she paused to ask him a question, and that's when he stopped his trash collecting duties, raised his bloodied left hand and moaned "Alligator, alligator," in broken English.

"He was still going into the shrubbery pulling up garbage," said Anneli Kuebler. "If I didn't notice him I don't know how long he would have been out there working."

Kuebler ran to get the attention of a nearby sheriff's deputy, who was finishing up an investigation of a man who had hanged himself on the same island earlier in the day at the county park west of Lake Worth.

The deputy made the gator-bitten man - who had bandaged his hand with a trash bag and a strip of crime-scene tape left after the suicide - lie down and called for paramedics.

"I think he was just wandering," sheriff's Deputy William Hess said. "It seemed like he didn't know what to do."

The man had no identification but told investigators he was Raymundo Velasco, 49, of suburban Lake Worth.

He had been using a pole with a net to gather trash floating in the water off the island shortly before 1 p.m., officials say. The alligator evidently chomped his hand as he reached into the water to pick up a stray piece of garbage.

Velasco was flown by Trauma Hawk to Delray Medical Center as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission called out trappers to hunt down and kill the aggressive gator.

Alligator attacks are rare because the reptiles tend to be frightened of humans. In the past 60 years there have been about 475 reported bites in Florida. The last fatal one was in 2007.

Today's attack was the first of the year in Florida, said Gabriella Ferraro, a spokeswoman for the fish and wildlife commission.

Rick Kramer, the trapper sent by the commission to capture the gator, said park-goers throwing food to the animal may have been a factor in the attack.

"They're probably coming down and feeding the alligator and it's lost its fear of humans," he said.

The small island in John Prince Park where the gator attack occurred had been the site of police activity earlier in the day because a county parks employee who had lost his job earlier in the morning was found hanged there.

It was the commotion from the discovery of his body that had sent Kuebler down to the island, known as McMillen Island, that afternoon to find out was had been happening.

Velasco's injury was not considered life-threatening but it was unclear how badly damaged his hand had been.

Staff writers Jason Schultz and Michael Laforgia contributed to this story.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/local_news/epaper/2009/01/27/0127gator.html?imw=Y

 

[wcreptiles]

Victim Of Alligator Attack Out Of Surgery

Doctor Says Man Lost Part Of Finger, Had Thumb Fused

POSTED: 4:18 pm EST January 28, 2009


DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- Raymundo Velasco is recovering at Delray Medical Center after a one-hour surgery Wednesday to repair injuries he suffered in an alligator attack at John Prince Park.

Velasco, 49, was picking up trash along the bank of Lake Osbourne on Tuesday when he was snatched from the bank by a gator and dragged underwater, deputies said.

Dr. Steve Meadows said he had to amputate Velasco's left index finger at the middle joint and fuse the thumb at the end joint.

"Infection is a big thing," Meadows said at a news conference. "So we have infectious disease doctors looking after him, making recommendations for antibiotic treatment."

Meadows said Velasco does not have any family with him but expects he'll be out of the hospital in a few days.

http://www.wpbf.com/news/18588148/detail.html

 

[wcreptiles]

Alligator Attack Victim Remembers Little About Incident

Alligator Attack Victim Remembers Little About Incident
Man Still Hasn't Told Family About Attack
WPBF-TV
updated 1:47 p.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - At times smiling, even joking, Raymundo Velasquez on Thursday shared the tale of being attacked by an alligator.

Velasquez gave his first television interview from his hospital bed at Delary Medical Center to WPBF News 25's Cathleen O'Toole and answered many questions about how a gator dragged him from the lakeshore at John Prince Park earlier in the week.

Velasquez, 49, -- who authorities intially identified as Raymundo Velasco -- said he was working for a company called Maia, which is contracted by Palm Beach County to do debris removal at the park.

"When I was going to pick up the piece of paper, I saw that animal, and it came lunging at me, and grabbed me," said Velasquez.

The father of four could not explain exactly how he got away from the gator, but he remembered it pulling him under and, "the water rushing into my ears."

A witness, Anneli Keubler, told WPBF News 25 on Tuesday that she found Velasquez had bandaged up his own hand with a plastic bag and had returned to work.

"I can't imagine that all this has occurred," the Guatemalan native said through a translator. "But even when I came out of the water, I didn't think that I'd have to go to the hospital, but the lady (Kuebler) that was there on scene and saw my arm suggested that I come to the hospital."

Velasquez said he was getting excellent care at Delray Medical Center and he was enjoying the rest. He said he has not told his wife back in Guatemala about the attack, even though they talked at length on the phone. He said he didn't want to upset the family.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28934212/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28934212/

 

[Rattlesnake]

WOW!!