In a Florida man story that includes some of the usual elements such as “alligator’s jaws,” and “human limb,” but not “alcohol, bath salts, and/or methamphetamine-fueled wrestling,” or “doctors were forced to amputate,” WINK reports that Collier County resident Walter Rudder on Friday came across neighbor being Rick Fingeret dragged into a pond by one of the vicious aquatic reptiles and immediately freed the doomed man by running over the animal with his vehicle.
“I was driving back to our house when I saw someone laying on the ground, waving his arm. I drove over and did not realize that an alligator had bitten him on the leg and had his leg in its mouth. We backed the car out, and I drove over the alligator. It got loose, let go of the leg and ran off towards the pond,” Rudder told WINK in an interview. “Then [Rudder’s wife] Paula, she called 911. I got out of the car and I took my shirt off and wrapped it around his wound, which was near his thigh. The second wound was the calf area. He had two big dogs, which were labs, with him. I took a leash off of the one labs and made a tourniquet out of it, and waited for the EMT to arrive. They finally did arrive which was great, and they did a wonderful job, and that’s what took place.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission told WBBH they trapped the alligator and relocated it, the omission of any injuries from being run over by a man-made vehicle a statement in and of itself.