JC La Verde, 34, said his head and torso ended up in the reptile’s mouth as it bit him before he managed to fend it off and escape. Warning – this article contains graphic images Footage showed him unknowingly swimming towards the oncoming alligator in Lake Thonotosassa, near Tampa, Florida. His colleague was filming him over the lake at the time for a promotional video for an adventure race and caught the terrifying attack on camera. Mr La Verde, a firefighter, said: “I couldn’t see it (the alligator). I hit it straight on with my head. It cut me on my head, my scapula (shoulder blade) and my upper body.” He said the impact was like “hitting a brick wall”. He said: “I felt the scale, I felt the teeth. I knew immediately what I was in for. There was no doubt where I was.” Mr La Verde, who is an “above average” swimmer, said: “It crashed, punctured my skull and destroyed my jaw, dislocated it on both sides and broke it in two in the middle.” It’s “overwhelming that I survived this thing” as it “tried to kill me.” “I knew I was going to get out of the situation and I knew I had to act,” he added. “We rolled to the right. I actually thought he had rolled me, but if he had, I think I would have felt my whole body jerk and I didn’t. “Well, I was in his mouth. I was grabbing it with both of his hands, grabbing his teeth, and with my right hand I was grabbing some of his tongue. I know I felt gums that were squished and hard.” “By doing that I miraculously managed to turn it around.” Mr La Verde said he had since watched the video about 40 times. Image: Mr. La Verde and his wife Christine She said there were two reasons why she let him go: “I didn’t become submissive, and I grabbed his muzzle and also played with the inside of his mouth.” “I was confused – but he was probably even more confused about what was going on and probably how fast I was doing it.” “We rolled over and then he let it go and then I kept swimming,” and he was able to get to safe ground on a nearby dock. He was helped by some Good Samaritans who took care of him before an ambulance arrived and he was taken to the hospital. It is believed the alligator was trying to protect its nest nearby when the attack took place on August 3. Image: Photo: GoFundMe It has since been believed that the animal was caught and destroyed by a nearby property owner during “alligator season,” meaning it was legal. Mr La Verde spent 10 days in hospital after undergoing facial and jaw reconstruction surgery and a craniotomy, with doctors removing part of his right temporal lobe that had been pierced by a broken bone from his cracked skull. His emergency operation lasted six hours and he will need two more surgeries in the future. He now has to wear a helmet to protect the right side of his head. Image: Mr. La Verde must wear a helmet to protect the right side of his head His wife Christine told Sky News she felt the episode was “terrifying” and discovered what had happened on Facebook. She said seeing her husband in hospital after the injury was “very overwhelming” and “shocking”. He added that it was “going well.”
