Diver bit by alligator in Boynton Beach

First of the season!

The local TV news interviews are far more exciting than the news clip below. Our hero is a tall dark & handsome type, with a nice looking family too. Articulate. He could be a stunt double in a modern Tarzan movie.

He was minding his own business, doing his job - diving for golf balls, okay? - around the same gator he usually saw at this place. This time, it went after him. It grabbed his air tank, then got a good grip on his left hand. It pulled him toward the center of the lake, and he was hoping it would let go for a minute, to try for a better grip on him, so he went along for the ride.

But witnesses agree the gator - a big heavy strapping female - was just about to start the death roll. He felt it coming and knew he'd either have to fight back, get his arm torn off, or die. So he punched that gator in the eye. Gave it all he had. And got away.

His two beautiful little kids don't want to let Daddy out of their sight just now. He's home from the ER, still wearing his wet suit, left arm wrapped up hugely and hanging from a sling.

Now it's his kids who have a death grip on his arm. His RIGHT arm.


Apr 26, 3:55 AM EDT

Diver bit by alligator in Boynton Beach

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A diver hired by the city to retrieve golf balls from a lake was attacked by a 9-foot alligator that bit the man's arm, authorities said.

Stephen Martinez, 43, of Coral Springs, was treated at a hospital for injuries similar to a dog bite, said Palm Beach County sheriff's Lt. Rolando Silva.

"It's serious, but certainly not life-threatening," he said.

Martinez was under murky water at The Links golf course when a group of golfers heard him yell for help, said course manager Dan Hager.

The alligator apparently bit Martinez's air tank and tried to pull him under the water. Martinez grabbed a utility knife strapped to his dive suit and tried to stab the animal. That's when it bit his arm, Hager said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was investigating.

The alligator was trapped and will have to be euthanized, commission spokeswoman Dani Moschella said.
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Information from: The Palm Beach Post, http://www.pbpost.com/
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