A Florida homeless man bathing himself in a pond Monday was in for an unpleasant surprise when an alligator started biting at his toes, authorities said.
Frederic Iman, 68, was washing off in a Port Charlotte pond at 10:20 a.m. Monday when the gator bit him several times, WKMG reported.
WINK-TV reported that the man managed to walk to Charlotte Surgical Center, where employees dialed 911.
“It looks like his pants are torn,” the caller told a dispatcher. “It ate his toes off.”
“It ate his toes off?” the emergency operator answers.
Charlotte County Fire and EMS airlifted Iman to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, where they determined that his injuries were serious but not life-threatening.
He suffered bite wounds to his left foot, groin, and leg and is listed in fair condition.
Residents say the reptile, which is nine feet long, had hung out in the storm water treatment basin before but never attacked anybody.
“I know that they’re in there,” resident Ron Theisen said. “I look for them. When I first walked up here, I made sure I looked around to be on the safe side because it only takes one mistake and you’re in a world of hurt.”
Authorities say they captured the alligator and will put the creature to death.
The attack that took place Monday is the latest in a string of alligator attacks that happened recently in Florida.
A man was bitten by an alligator at DeSoto Veterans Memorial Park in DeSoto County on July 17, and a 71-year-old woman was attacked by a gator in Fort Myers on July 9.
A 51-year-old man who was bitten in the arm by an alligator in Rotonda West July 7 said he is keeping the alligator’s head to remind him of the experience.
In May, a 10-year-old fought off an alligator after it attacked her at a lake 26 miles from Disney World. She managed to escape the attack with minor injuries that required a few stitches.
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