Alligator attack: 911 call reveals gator bit woman, snatched life vest as group kayaked in Polk County | FOX 35 Orlando
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Alligator attack: 911 call reveals gator bit woman, snatched life vest as group kayaked in Polk County

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Published  March 4, 2025 3:35pm EST
Polk County
FOX 13 News

Alligator attack: 911 call released

A 911 call is shedding light on what happened when a kayaker was bitten by an alligator in Polk County on Monday afternoon.

The Brief

    • The Polk County Sheriff’s Office released a 911 call placed on Monday after a woman was attacked by an alligator.
    • The 911 caller said in addition to biting the woman on the elbow, it also took a life jacket from another member of the kayaking group.
    • The woman was taken to an area hospital to be treated for her injuries.

BABSON PARK, Fla. - A 911 call is shedding light on what happened when an alligator attacked a woman who was kayaking with a group of 30 people on Monday in a canal near the Polk/Osceola County line. 

Alligator attack

The backstory:

Around 1 p.m., a man called 911 and reported that two people had been bitten by an alligator while the group was kayaking on a canal between Tiger Lake and Kissimmee Lake. 

The caller explained that the group launched their kayaks at Lake Kissimmee State Park and paddled to Rosalee and then to Tiger Lake, and they were on their way back to Lake Kissimmee when the attack happened. 

He later said that only one woman had been bitten by the gator and that the reptile had taken a life jacket from a man in the group. 

Video: Florida gator stops traffic to take turtle across the street

"She’s going into shock," the caller said. "She’s in real pain. She’s in a lot of pain."

Helping the alligator attack victim

Dig deeper:

The operator told him that help was on the way and added that the group needed to get a clean, dry cloth to wrap the woman’s injury so she wouldn’t bleed out before rescue crews arrived. 

The caller explained that there was a first aid kit in the boat, but nobody wanted to go into the water to get it because they were scared of the gator. 

He said the gator was still in the middle of the channel, messing around with the life vest. They couldn’t see the gator, but they saw the life vest moving around, so they thought the reptile was in the water underneath the vest. 

READ: Wanted Florida man hiding from Polk deputies captured by K9: ‘Pedigreed loser’

The caller said that the woman would scream in pain when they tried to move her arm to bandage it. 

The operator asked if they could get the woman into a boat and to a boat ramp because, while first responders were trying to get to them, it was challenging. 

"If there was a ramp, we’d be golden, but we are in the marshy area, and she is half in the boat, and they got her mostly out of the water," the caller explained before clarifying they were on kayaks, not boats. 

The rescue

Timeline:

About 20 minutes into the call, the operator walks the caller through how to share a pin location with rescue crews so they could reach the group. 

Approximately 10 minutes later, the caller said the patient was still responding, but she was not doing well, and her pulse was going down.

The operator instructed him to have someone keep her awake and not move her or give her anything to eat or drink. 

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He added that most of the group was in kayaks except for the patient and one person. 

The caller said the gator at that point was about a quarter of a mile away and still attached to the life vest. 

A little more than 30 minutes into the call, the caller said he could see and hear a helicopter circling overhead. 

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A kayaker waved a paddle in the air to try to make it easy to spot the group.

The helicopter was able to land, get on an airboat and reach the kayakers about 45 minutes after 911 was called. 

The woman was taken to an area hospital with an injury to her elbow, but it is unclear what condition she is in. 

How to prevent alligator attacks

According to FWC, serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida. 

What you can do:

The FWC recommends taking the following precautions to reduce the chances of alligator incidents: 

  • Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator. If someone is concerned about an alligator, they should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and a contracted nuisance alligator trapper will be dispatched to resolve the situation.
  • Keep pets on a leash and away from the water’s edge. Pets often resemble alligators’ natural prey.
  • Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn.
  • Never feed an alligator. It’s illegal and dangerous. When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with food availability. This can lead to an alligator becoming a nuisance and needing to be removed from the wild. 

The Source: This story was written with information from the FWC and 911 calls provided by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. 

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