Woman recalls assisting Florida man badly wounded in alligator attack

SANFORD, Fla. - A night out for a Central Florida couple halted with a grisly discovery. Kendall Hardester and Ismail Rainey found a man badly wounded from an alligator attack on the path along Lake Monroe in Sanford. 

"It was probably around 1:30 in the morning. We were driving back home and passed by a guy, basically lying on the side here, covered in blood," Hardester said. "He was missing his arm from here; you could see his bone and all the flesh coming out of it."

Rainey pulled over his car, and they jumped out. Hardester said instinct just took over. She immediately tried to help. 

"I just ran over. There was one little towel that he had, so I took it, covered his arm with it, and squeezed it till the paramedics got there," she said.

It turned out the man was homeless and had been swimming in Lake Monroe, which is infested with gators. FWC said an alligator ripped off the man's arm, but luckily he survived. 

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"It was probably five minutes, then another guy got there, and he started helping me. It was probably around ten minutes till the paramedics came," Hardester said.

The paramedics took the man to the hospital. Rainey said it was nothing they ever imagined they'd have to deal with. "Yeah, not something you'd ever expect, especially on a regular Saturday night, ending your night going home. You don't expect to run into something like that."

Already a hero, Hardester said she'd be ready to save a life if she were ever in a position again. 

"If I came across a situation like that again, yeah, I would."