A horrifying video is going viral this week showing the moment an 85 year-old grandmother was snatched by an alligator as she walked her dog before being dragged to her death.
Grandmother Killed By Alligator
Daily Mail reported that Gloria Serge, 85, was killed on Monday after she was mauled by a 10 foot alligator when she tried to rescue her beloved dog Trooper from the animal. While Trooper survived the attack, Serge sadly lost her life.
The disturbing footage was captured by a wildlife camera at the Spanish Lakes Fairways retirement community in Fort Pierce, Florida. Serge can be seen walking Trooper by the lake, not realizing that she is being watched by an alligator, who eventually makes his move and lunges at the pair.
As Serge tried to get Trooper away from the alligator’s jaws, the reptile grabbed her instead and dragged her into the water. The entire harrowing scene was witnessed by Serge’s 76 year-old neighbor Carole Thomas, who frantically called 911.
“There’s a woman in the lake. The alligator’s got her!” she screamed on the call.
Thomas soon realized that Serge was likely not going to make it out alive.
“I think she’s gone, oh my God,” she cried.
Related: Heroic Dog Dad Fights 7 Ft. Alligator Bare-Handed To Save His Beloved 8-Month-Old Lab
Thomas Tried To Save Serge
Thomas later said that she’d attempted to use a pole to help Serge get out of the water. She added that Serge told her that she couldn’t swim to shore because the alligator had ahold of her, according to WPTV. Her body was later recovered deep in the lake.
“There is no way I could have gotten to her sooner,” Thomas said. “It’s horrible for her family. It’s just horrible, horrible. And her friends, I spoke to a couple of her friends yesterday who are devastated.”
Locals said that the alligator was actually a fixture in the neighborhood who had affectionately been given the name Henry. Alligator trapper Robert Lilly, who was called in to catch the reptile, told The New York Post that “it was definitely a fight.”
“[We] snagged him on the bottom,” he recounted. “He never surfaced. He stayed down the whole time. We were able to get a second hook in him and a hard line in him so we could get him up.”
The alligator was euthanized once he was removed from the lake.
Serge had lived in the retirement community for quite some time. Her family lived out of state and traveled to Florida after the attack, but they declined to comment on it. Experts are warning people in the area to be careful about walking their pets near bodies of water.
Find out more about this in the video below.
Related: Viral Video Shows Massive Gator Walking Across Golf Course During Tropical Storm
Alligators In Florida
Serge is the third person in Florida to be killed by an alligator since last July, when an unidentified woman was killed by two alligators after she fell into a pond near her home at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club in Englewood. She desperately tried to stay above water, but the alligators snatched her before she could escape.
Florida has 1.3 million alligators, and the reptiles can be found in practically all fresh bodies of water. Between 1948 and 2021, 442 unprovoked alligator bite incidents were reported in Florida, with 26 of them being fatal.
“Serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida,” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said in a statement after Serge’s death. “The FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to address complaints concerning specific alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property.”
“People with concerns about an alligator should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286),” the statement continued. “When someone concerned about an alligator calls the Nuisance Alligator Hotline, we will dispatch one of our contracted nuisance alligator trappers to resolve the situation.”
Please join us in saying a prayer for Serge’s family during this difficult time.
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