The son of a Florida woman who lost part of her arm in a terrifying alligator attack is blaming tourists and TikTokers for teaching the reptiles to get a little too comfortable around humans.
Dina Spann, 58, was attacked Saturday while floating in the Silver River in Marion County. Her son, Zach Guerrina, told the New York Post that he believes people feeding, touching and otherwise getting too close to alligators are causing them to lose their natural fear of humans.
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“Growing up in Florida, that has never been a thing. I’m in the water all the time and I’ve never had a gator want to approach,” Guerrina said. “We’ve got a lot of tourists down here and a lot of people that’s moved to Florida that’s never seen an alligator before.
“There’s literally videos of people petting alligators. When you do that, these things lose fear of humans and if it gets close enough to you, it’s gonna bite you.”
The Crocodilian Biology and Management Course at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in northeast Florida offers in-depth training to zoo and aquarium staff on safely managing crocodilians, ensuring the survival of endangered species in human care. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Guerrina said he has been visiting the Silver River since childhood and his family has floated there “hundreds of times” without incident. Since his mother’s attack, however, he said he has been made aware of TikTok videos showing visitors getting dangerously close to alligators while kayaking on the river.
“It’s going to happen again out there, because if they’re feeding them like that, they’re going to come up to you,” he said.
Spann was swimming in a prohibited area when the alligator attacked. The animal grabbed her right arm and pulled her underwater after she attempted to fend it off with a paddle.
Nearby boater John Gamache was eating lunch with his father when he heard the commotion and raced toward the swimmers.
“I looked just upriver from us a couple hundred feet and saw an alligator head way above the water and going full speed towards the swimmers,” Gamache previously told Fox 35 Orlando.
A woman kayaks on a tropical river and points at an alligator in the water. (Getty Images)
The approaching boat scared the alligator away, but Spann had suffered catastrophic injuries.
“It was a terrible injury, bones poking out, blood everywhere. Obviously, the minutes mattered,” Gamache said.
Gamache used rope from his boat to tie off Spann’s injured arm while his father helped bring the other swimmers onto the boat. They then rushed the group toward a nearby launch, where first responders took over.
BOATER SCARED OFF ALLIGATOR THEN USED ROPE TO STOP BLEEDING AFTER FLORIDA WOMAN LOST ARM
Spann survived but ultimately had her right arm amputated below the elbow and also lost at least one finger on her left hand, according to Guerrina.
Her son said she has remained in “good spirits” despite the ordeal and described his mother as a “hippie soul” who loves animals and traveling. He said she had recently returned from a trip to Africa before the attack.
Guerrina also believes Florida should allow more alligators to be hunted.
“There’s too many gators out here,” he told the Post. “We’ve got three people that’s been bit these last weeks –– a kid lost his hand, a girl died and now this.
“I’m not saying eradicate gators but if you’re going to put them somewhere, put them in the marsh.
“If you’re in spring water, you shouldn’t have to be concerned about an alligator.”
The attack comes less than two months after 11-year-old Brodie Terry of Pennsylvania lost his hand when an 8-foot, 7-inch alligator attacked him during a June fishing trip in Marion County.
And just one day later, on June 28, another Florida alligator attack turned deadly.
A woman lost her right arm after an alligator (not pictured) attacked her while she was swimming in a Florida river. (iStock)
Brittany Clark, 31, was hiking with her boyfriend and best friend at Little Big Eco State Forest near Orlando when the group waded into the Econlockhatchee River to cool off.
They were kneeling in roughly three feet of water when a massive alligator attacked Clark and bit both of her arms. One arm was severed and the other was nearly torn off as her boyfriend fought to free her from the animal.
Clark died before rescue workers could get her to a hospital.
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Following Spann’s attack, trappers contracted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission caught and removed a 9-foot, 8-inch alligator from the Silver River on Sunday. The river was then reopened to the public.
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