SC diver reveals how he fought off huge alligator with screwdriver after being dragged to bottom of a river: 'I knew I was going to die'



A South Carolina man miraculously survived a harrowing alligator attack in what he believed was going to be the last moments of his life.

William Georgitis, of West Ashley, was scuba diving in the Cooper River on Monday afternoon. He was hunting for fossils at the bottom of the river, and had dove in this particular spot about 40 times in the past six years.

Georgitis rose to the surface of the water when he realized that he was being targeted by a huge alligator.

"When I surfaced, he was about 20 feet away from me and as soon as he saw me, he launched himself out of the water. I mean he was coming at me, almost hydroplaning on the top. He was so determined to get there," Georgitis told WCBD-TV.

He remembered, "Put my arm up defensively and he grabbed hold of it. I mean, he was huge. I don’t even know how big he was because I was just right there. He felt massive."

"I knew his first move once he grabbed me was to roll me," the diver said. "So, I bear-hugged him so he wouldn't death-roll me. I wrapped my arm around his head and my legs around his neck."

The beast dragged him and his scuba tank under the water while his arm was locked inside the alligator's clamped-down jaw.

"I got my screwdriver that I use on the bottom of the river, and I stabbed him in the eye, and when I did that, he shook me like a ragdoll," Georgitis recalled. "Threw me off of him. I grabbed ahold of him because I didn’t want him to roll again."

"I guess he was tired of fighting me, so he wanted to drown me at that point," he said.

The gator pulled him all the way to the bottom of the river, which Georgitis estimates to be about 50 feet deep.

Georgitis hit the riverbed with his shoulders and neck while the weight of the ferocious animal was pressing down on him.

"I couldn’t get up to his eye again, so I went for his gum line and tried to stab him between the teeth where the soft spots were, and that seemed to work," Georgitis said. "He shook me again, pretty hard down there, and at that point, I ran out of air."

"I knew I was going to die right then and there," Georgitis said.

However, he would unbelievably survive the terrifying animal attack to tell his story.

"I wrenched back as hard as I could trying to rip my arm off at the elbow," Georgitis said. "And I got out. I don’t know how, I just thought that I tore it off and when I got back to the surface, it was flopping down hanging like a wet noodle. The guy in the boat dragged me. I couldn’t pull myself up."

Georgitis was rushed to the hospital. He thankfully did not lose his arm from the vicious alligator attack, but he may need surgeries in the future.

He contacted the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources about the animal attack, which will send a team to search for the alligator.

Georgitis is warning other divers about the dangerous creature.

"This gator is extremely aggressive and he’s right there where everybody else dives. It’s a well-known spot and this thing is huge. He didn’t even take a second to attack me. He was on me as soon as he saw me," Georgitis cautioned. "Whoever else is out there diving please be careful."

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Man recovering after Cooper River alligator attack www.youtube.com

Mississippi gator hunters bag a record-setting leviathan after a 7-hour battle: 'It was pandemonium. It was chaos.'



A record was set and certified in August 2017 for the longest alligator bagged in Mississippi. The beast weighed 766.5 pounds and measured 14 feet and 3/4 inches tail to snout.

It turns out there was yet a greater monster still lurking in the murk.

With an inkling of where a "particularly territorial" alligator at least 12 feet long could be found out on the Yazoo River, Will Thomas, Don Woods, Tanner White, and Joey Clark ventured out Friday in search of their gator and glory, reported the Washington Post.

Woods, among those to receive a tag by lottery for this year's 10-day hunting season, told the Clarion Ledger, "We got on the water right at dark. ... It was a calm night. We saw a lot of 8-footers, 10-footers, but that's not what we were after."

Around 9 p.m., they saw their prize.

"We knew he was wide," said Woods. "His back was humongous. It was like we were following a jon boat."

The hunters managed to hook the beast, but it would not go gentle into that good night. Rather, the beast shredded lines, broke rods, and tested the men's endurance for several hours.

"We held onto him awhile — until 10 or so," Woods told the Ledger. "He broke my rod at that point."

Woods and his crew hooked the beast several more times, but again and again it managed to break off.

"He would go down, sit and then take off. He kept going under logs. He knew what he was doing," Woods recalled. "The crazy thing is he stayed in that same spot."

The more the alligator thrashed, the better sense the hunters got of exactly what they were dealing with.

Thomas told the Post, "It was pandemonium. It was chaos. ... When you have an 800-pound animal on the end of a fishing rod, and he's coming up and he looks like a beast, everybody is kind of going crazy, and your adrenaline is pumping."

"We probably didn't have top-of-the-line equipment because he broke everything we had," said Thomas. "By the end of the night, I didn't think we could catch him because our equipment was shot."

"He dictated everything we did. It was exhausting," Woods told the Ledger. "It was more mentally exhausting than anything because he kept getting off."

Although tested, the crew would not be bested.

Taking on water and working feverishly to close the deal before the oppressive Mississippi heat returned along with the sunshine, the men put their last two good rods to use and slayed the beast around 3:30 a.m..

Thomas told NewsNation, "It was a team effort. Everybody kind of had a job and we fought him hard."

The Post indicated that after noosing the gator in accordance with state law, the hunters rendered the beast the inert stuff of legend with a shotgun blast.

In the 30 minutes it took to get the gator on board, the men began to comprehend the full heft of their prize.

"We just knew we had a big alligator," said Woods. "We were just amazed at how wide his back was and how big the head was. It was surreal, to tell you the truth."

Andrew Arnett, Alligator Program coordinator with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, later measured it and discovered the hunters had a state record for "longest male alligator taken by a permitted hunter" on their hands. It weighed in at 802.5 lbs, measured 14 feet and 3 inches long, and sported a belly girth of 66 inches.

Arnett told the Post, "I was actually shocked. ... It's not every year you get something of this magnitude."

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves congratulated the hunters on "harvesting the biggest alligator in state history," adding "#TastesLikeChicken."

— (@)

NewsNation indicated that the team donated an estimated 380 pounds of the gator's meat to a program in the state that feeds the hungry.

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Alligator kills woman walking her dogs — and recovery effort is interrupted by gator 'guarding' the body



A South Carolina woman died Tuesday after being attacked by an alligator.

Early on Independence Day morning, 69-year-old Holly Jenkins left her home in the Hilton Head community of Spanish Wells to take her dog on a walk. But family members became concerned when the dog returned home without her.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m., a family member spotted Jenkins, unresponsive, near the edge of a lagoon and phoned emergency responders. Police finally managed to recover Jenkins' lifeless body only after dealing with an aggressive gator, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office explained in a news release.

"Rescue efforts were made and an alligator appeared and was guarding the woman, interrupting emergency efforts," the release said. "The gator was safely removed from the area and the woman’s body was recovered."

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officials eventually removed the alligator — a 9-foot, 9-inch male — and euthanized it.

An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday, WTOP-TV reported.

Authorities confirm one person killed in Beaufort County alligator attack www.youtube.com

The fatal attack is the second to occur in the area in less than a year.

Last August, 88-year-old Nancy Becker was gardening near a pond in her gated Hilton Head community when she slipped into the water. An alligator then attacked and killed her. That gator was also nearly 10 feet long. It was later identified and euthanized.

That gator, like the one that killed Jenkins, also guarded its victim.

"The alligator was basically holding her hostage, I guess — I don’t know what the appropriate term would be. It was guarding her and did not want people close by," explained Angela Viens, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, at the time.

The proximity of the fatal attacks does not mean they are frequent.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has reported only six fatal encounters with alligators since 2000, the New York Times reported. Overall, there have only been 24 encounters with injuries — or an average of one per year — in that same time span.

Jay Butfiloski, the alligator program coordinator with the SCDNR, told the Times last year that alligator attacks are increasing because building developments are encroaching on the bodies of water where alligators live. He also explained that walking near bodies of water with pets increases one's chances of being attacked.

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Man claims Florida first lady Casey DeSantis made 'a racist fashion statement' by wearing Florida alligator 'WHERE WOKE GOES TO DIE' jacket



Dr. Marvin Dunn, who describes himself on Twitter as a "Historian, author, [and] progressive Democrat," has accused Florida first lady Casey DeSantis of racism because she wore a jacket emblazoned with a design that features an alligator and an outline of the Sunshine State.

Text on the jacket says, "WHERE WOKE GOES TO DIE," a comment that Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly made about Florida.

But while the message simply reflects the couple's conservative views which are also held by millions of other Americans, Dunn claimed that the jacket carries a sinister, racist meaning and that Casey DeSantis was fully cognizant of the supposed message being conveyed by her apparel.

"Casey DeSantis Florida's First Lady makes a racist fashion statement. Black babies as alligator bait was a theme in racist Florida humor of the early 1900s. It's an inside joke. If you are not from Florida, you may not get it. She does. Do you?" Dunn declared. "Casey DeSantis knew what the leather jacket she wore signified in Florida's racist history. Why did she wear it in 85 degrees weather?" he wrote in another tweet.

\u201cCasey DeSantis Florida's First Lady makes a racist fashion statement. Black babies as alligator bait was a theme in racist Florida humor of the early 1900s. It's an inside joke. If you are not from Florida, you may not get it. She does. Do you?\u201d
— Dr. Marvin Dunn (@Dr. Marvin Dunn) 1686079672

In a recent piece titled "Casey DeSantis is the Walmart Melania," Daily Beast executive editor Katie Barker wrote that the "ghastly black leather jacket ... brought to mind nothing so much as the racks of a Red State big-bin store where it would be retailing for $24.99."

Barker trashed the Florida governor and his wife.

After noting that Casey DeSantis had survived a battle against breast cancer, Barker wrote, "Anyone going through that must have strength and grit. Still, we've all met people who stared death in the face and came out the other side incandescently glowing with life and with love.

"Perhaps that is the case in Casey DeSantis' private and personal life, but on the public stage, with that black leather jacket, she’s telling us she stands for something else. She’s telling us she is cheering on a spouse who gets his kicks off targeting his fellow Americans. She’s telling us she’s down with his message of division and dehumanization. She's telling us they are ready for far more power. She's incandescent in her black leather jacket, at her husband's side—both of them seething with hate," Barker wrote.

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Body of 2-year-old Taylen Mosley found in jaws of alligator a day after his mother was found dead, boy's father charged with murder



A statewide search for a missing 2-year-old boy ended in tragedy on Friday when the child's body was found in the jaws of an alligator in Florida. The boy went missing after his mother was found stabbed to death. The father has been charged with the murders of the boy and his mother.

The body of 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery was found dead from "multiple stab wounds" inside her St. Petersburg apartment. There was reportedly a trail of blood from Jeffrey's vehicle to her apartment in what St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway described as “a very violent crime scene."

Jeffrey's son, 2-year-old Taylen Mosley, was not inside the apartment with his dead mother.

The St. Petersburg Police Department launched a frantic search for the missing boy. A statewide Amber Alert was sent out to locate Taylen.

Dive teams searched for the missing boy in retention ponds near the apartment, and police with cadaver dogs and drones combed the area.

On Friday, the body of Taylen Mosley was found in the mouth of an alligator. Police noticed an alligator “with an object in its mouth,” then quickly realized it was a child's body. Officers shot the alligator, causing it to release the boy. The alligator was euthanized.

The dead boy was discovered 10 miles south of the Lincoln Shores Apartments at Dell Holmes Park, which is close to Lake Maggiore.

Police did not specify how the 2-year-old boy died or what role the alligator attack played in his death. The medical examiner is investigating the boy's cause of death.

Taylen's father, Thomas Mosley, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his son and Pashun Jeffery.

Thomas Mosley allegedly went to his mother's house at around 9 p.m. Wednesday with abrasions on his body. The 21-year-old father had been named as a person of interest after he checked himself into a local hospital with “cuts to his hands into his arms.” Taylen was not with his father at the hospital. Thomas was still at a local hospital as of Friday night, according to authorities.

Police did not indicate if Thomas suffered the wounds in self-defense, but Holloway noted that “nothing in our investigation leads us to believe that he is a victim.”

Family members recall the deceased mother and son.

Lakita Denson told WFLA, “He’s always calling his mom on his cell phone. He miss his mom, they calling each other all the time. She really loved Taylen.”

Theo Brickhouse-Sails said, “We just want to say that Taylen is a beautiful little boy. He’s really loving and caring.”

Holloway said at a press conference, “We didn’t want to find him this way, but at least we can bring some closure to that family now.”

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Missing toddler Taylen Mosley's body found in alligator's mouth; father charged with first-degree mu www.youtube.com


'A walking miracle': Drone captures moment Florida man is mauled by a large alligator. He fought off attack but had his skull crushed.



A Florida man barely escaped death when he experienced a head-on confrontation with a large alligator on Aug. 3. The harrowing scene was captured on video by a drone flying above the lake.

Juan Carlos La Verde, who also goes by the name J.C. Defeats, was swimming in Lake Thonotosassa, about 20 miles northeast of Tampa. La Verde was being recorded with a drone hovering above for a video for his company. He accidentally forgot to bring his swimming goggles for swimming in the murky water.

Chilling drone video reveals the moment that La Verde swam straight into a 12-foot-long alligator and was mauled. The alligator snapped at La Verde, and the animal clenched its jaw on the man's head and upper torso.

Pointing to the right side of his head, La Verde said, "I was chomped down on this side, like completely."

La Verde – a former U.S. Air Force pararescue veteran and current firefighter – fought for his life.

"An unbelievable amount of faith in myself that I wasn’t going to die," he recalled of the fight with the alligator. "I was going to be OK, but I needed to act for sure."

With the alligator's jaw clamped on his head, he put his hands into the animal's mouth.

"So, what I think I did, what I felt like I did, was that I immediately tried to open its jaws because I knew I was in a gator," J.C. told WFTS.

"When I felt the teeth, I immediately knew, and then as I opened it, I knew that I either turned it or it turned me, but it was confused just as I was confused, and then it just let go," he explained. "She let go, and she didn’t have to let go."

J.C., who is a triathlete, frantically swam to the dock.

A good Samaritan drove him to the hospital. During the drive, La Verde called 911 to inform emergency officials about the alligator attack.

La Verde underwent emergency surgery for six hours. He spent eight days in the hospital.

(WARNING: Graphic video)

JC Defeats a 12 foot gator www.youtube.com

La Verde's wife said her husband is "a walking miracle."

Christine La Verde told WTVT, "The bite crushed his skull, and it punctured his brain, so they ended up having to do a craniectomy – remove part of his temporal lobe."

The alligator attack broke his jaw and damaged a facial nerve.

J.C. had his jaw wired shut and needs to wear a helmet to protect his vulnerable head. He will need another surgery in the future.

J.C. offered words of inspiration to others struggling and advised them to keep their faith.

"I’m asking you to be tough because the world is a really difficult place, and, man, is it challenging to maneuver without God and ultimately Jesus Christ in your heart," he said. "Find your God. Find him. I get that that's scary, I do, but life is a scary place, so you can carry that load by yourself or have someone carry it for you."

This is the fourth serious alligator attack in the Tampa area since March. The other three incidents were fatal.




Elderly Florida woman killed by alligators at golf course



A Florida woman was killed after she was attacked by two alligators at a golf course.

Shortly before 8 p.m. on Friday, an elderly woman accidentally fell into a pond at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Witnesses said the Englewood woman struggled to get out of the pond. Meanwhile, two alligators attacked the woman.

"While in the water, two alligators were observed near the victim and ultimately grabbed her while in the water," a news release said, according to WPTV-TV.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, according to WINK-TV. The woman's identity has not been revealed yet.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) found two alligators at the golf course pond. The FWC said the one gator was 8-feet, 10-inches-long, and the other was 7-feet, 7-inches-long. The FWC removed the animals from the golf course.

It is not known for sure if the two alligators were involved in the fatal attack.

In late May, a man was killed by an alligator about 85 miles north of the deadly golf course incident.

The body of Sean McGuinness, 47, was found in an alligator-infested lake in Largo on May 31, according to the Largo Police Department.

McGuinness was reportedly searching for lost golf discs at Taylor Lake when he was attacked. He was missing three limbs when he was found in the Tampa-area lake.

The FWC noted that alligators are found in all 67 counties in Florida.

"In recent years, Florida has experienced tremendous human population growth. Many residents seek waterfront homes, and increasingly participate in water-related activities. This can result in more frequent alligator-human interactions, and a greater potential for conflict."

Woman dies after falling into pond, grabbed by gators www.youtube.com

Brave Georgia man removes 7-foot alligator from playground area with his bare hands



One Georgia man literally took the safety of his local community into his own hands earlier this week when he dragged a seven-foot alligator by the tail away from playground equipment and sent it back into the water.

Marquell T. White spotted a gator in the brush near some playground equipment in Bowles C. Ford Park in Savannah, Georgia, and was worried about the danger it posed to others. So he managed to cover the gator's eyes with what appears to be a long-sleeved shirt, snuck around behind the gator, grabbed its tail, and just started dragging, despite the gator's frequent thrashings.


Once the gator was safely in the water, White celebrated his victory. "I got it! I'm a monster!" he told the person filming the video.

White later told reporters that he didn't know what he was doing, but he did know that what he was doing was risky.

"It was a healthy fear. I respected the power that I knew the gator had," he said.

And while White was relieved that, for the moment, that particular gator was no longer much of a danger to park goers, he remains concerned about lapses in park maintenance which enabled a gator to hide itself in the brush in the first place.

"But it wasn't just the fact that the gator was there," he said, "because gators come and go. You couldn't see the gator because of the grass and the foliage."

White now hopes that city authorities will prioritize park safety by regularly mowing and removing brush so that people may be aware of alligators and other dangerous animals lurking in the area.

City alderwoman Alicia Miller-Blakely agrees.

“This park should’ve been developed back in the ‘80′s,” she said. “Somebody dropped the ball.”

The city released a statement after the video went viral, saying "[t]here have been servicing delays partly due to the abundance of rain experienced recently."

WOTC spoke with a man identified as Trapper Jack, a licensed catcher in the state of Georgia, about the incident, and Trapper Jack noted that White was lucky that no one got hurt. Interacting with gators "is very, very dangerous," he warned, for the person interacting with them "and whoever may be watching.”

It's also illegal, he said.

"Nobody else can do that legally. And when someone's messing with an alligator anywhere, they're breaking the law," he said.

White is not expected to face any charges for removing the alligator from the park.

WATCH: South Carolina woman and her dogs surprised by alligator at her front door

A woman in Charleston County in South Carolina, AKA the Low Country, was surprised to find an alligator hanging out on her front porch on Monday.