South Carolina River Diver Attacked by a 'Gator

Experienced river diver Will Georgitis (West Ashley, SC) was thrilled to find several sizeable, fossilized shark teeth on his April 15 dive in Cooper River. His air got low, so it was time to surface. As his head broke through, he saw an alligator swimming nearby, then making "a beeline right at me," he said. A foot away, the' gator opened its jaws.

Thinking it was going for his head - a bite he believed would surely kill him - Georgitis threw up his right arm to block it. The alligator clamped down on his forearm.

Anticipating the animal would twist his arm in a spin move to take him underwater, Georgitis wrapped his free arm and both legs around the alligator's body so he would roll with it. It was so large he couldn't hook his ankles together when he wrapped his legs around it. "And I'm 6' 2"," he said.

With the alligator's jaws clutching his forearm, Georgitis took the screwdriver he used to pry fossils out of the riverbed and tried to stab the gator's eye. He's unsure if he hit home, but the gator shook him "like a rag doll" and dove to the bottom of the Cooper River - about 50 feet deep, pinning him to the bottom with its body. He kept stabbing and struggling to get free. Then his tank went dry.

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

The last thing he could think to try was ripping off his own arm. He planted both feet on the massive gator, then pushed as hard as possible. The gator's teeth scraped over his arm instead of tearing it off. He broke free and bolted for the surface, then frantically swam to a friend's waiting boat and was taken to shore and the hospital. His arm was broken, and he needed "a ton" of staples to close up the wounds, he said. "It was a living nightmare."

He faces several surgeries and six months of recovery. His family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $100,000 medical bills. So far, about $16,000 has been contributed.

From reports in the South Carolina Post & Courier and Good Morning America