Alligator nearly bites off Florida woman’s hand: official

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Authorities say an alligator nearly took off a woman’s hand in an attack in the Everglades.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles says the 49-year-old woman dropped a can from a dock and was bitten by a 4- to 5-foot gator as she reached down to the water to get it Friday.

Jachles says a fire rescue helicopter was dispatched just before 6:30 p.m. to a fish camp in the Everglades near Fort Lauderdale. The woman from Osceola County was staying there with family.

He says flight medics found her with her right hand “almost fully amputated” and losing consciousness.