AN 11-year-old boy has lost his hand after an alligator attacked him while on a family fishing trip.
The boy’s father immediately jumped into action, trying to pry the beast’s mouth open as it latched onto the child’s arm, but doctors weren’t able to save his hand.
Brodie Terry and his father were at Nelson’s Fish Camp in Marion County, Florida, on June 27 for a fishing trip when the boy was attacked.
Brodie had just caught a fish and was releasing it when the reptile grabbed his arm.
“The gator came out of nowhere. They didn’t ever see it,” Andrew Wright, one of Brodie’s relatives told WESH.
When the alligator grabbed onto Brodie, his dad jumped onto the animal in hopes of prying open its mouth.
“When he did that, the gator did its roll, and it broke pretty much every bone in Brodie’s lower arm, severing part of his hand,” Wright revealed.
Brodie was taken to the hospital where doctors ultimately had to amputate his right hand.
Wright said that it was Brodie’s dominant hand when playing sports like football and baseball.
“Everything that he knew, doing everything with his right hand … [he] can’t do that anymore,” he said.
“Physically and emotionally, it’s going to be a very long road for him.”
Brodie’s family described the attack as a “life-altering event” in a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised over $19,000 as of Tuesday morning.
“Brodie’s pᴀssion for fishing, baseball and football have always brought him joy, and now he faces the challenge of adapting to his new circumstances while holding onto the things he loves,” the fundraiser read.
Wright said both the boy and the father, who were visiting Florida from Pennsylvania, were aware of their surrounding and knew alligators were in the water.
“They did see alligators in the area. Nothing that was close to them at all, and nothing that was of concern to them,” he explained.
Andrew Raines, another relative, told WKMG that doctors performed several surgeries before amputating his hand.
The 11-year-old was released from the hospital on Friday and has since returned home to Pennsylvania.
His family said he remains in high spirits and was seen smiling for a pH๏τo after he was released.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission captured and killed the nearly nine-foot alligator believed to have been involved in the attack.
The attack marked the third reported incident in the span of roughly three days, according to WPEC.
