NewsNational News

Actions

Woman suffers ‘significant bite injuries’ in Florida alligator attack

Posted at 3:44 PM, May 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-26 15:44:31-04

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A woman has been airlifted to a hospital after she was bitten by an alligator in Florida, according to the Brevard County Fire and Rescue service.

The woman suffered “significant bite injuries” and was bitten on the leg and flank, according to the department. The attack happened near Fay Lake Wilderness Park, about 20 miles from Cape Canaveral.

The department said it would not release the woman’s identity because of patient privacy laws, and referred further inquiries to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. CNN has reached out to the commission for comment.

On its website, the FWC warns people not to feed gators and to swim only in designated areas during the daylight hours.

Alligator attacks on humans are rare but not unknown in the South, particularly in warmer weather.

A woman was killed in an apparent alligator attack on Hilton Head Island inSouth Carolina last August. Just two months before that, a woman in Florida walking her dogs was pulled into the water and killed by an alligator.

In a well-publicized attack in June 2016, a 2-year-old boy died after an alligator pulled him into a lagoon near a Walt Disney World hotel.