LAKE MOULTRIE, South Carolina (17 Sep 2007) -- A man is in critical condition at Medical University of South Carolina after an alligator bit off his arm while he was diving. Local police told CDNN that Bill Hedden, 59, of Summerville, was diving at Lake Moultrie near Short Stay Naval Recreational Park when the alligator attacked. Still wearing his diving mask and grasping his shoulder socket to slow the loss of blood, Hedden stumbled into a group of people picnicking at the lake. The group, mostly members of the Bicol Assocation of Charleston, of group of Filipino Roman Catholics, included five nurses who responded immediately with primary emergency treatment including ice and improvised bandages to stop the bleeding. As the nurses worked to save Hedden, others called paramedics who arrived about 15 minutes later and helped stablize the patient until a helicopter arrived. Hedden was airlifted to Medical University of South Carolina where he was listed in critical condition. Even before paramedics arrived at the scene, one of the picnickers, Jerome Bien, followed Hedden's blood trail to the shore of the lake where he saw an alligator at the surface holding a man's arm in its jaws. Bien reported his find to authorities who called in officers with the Department of Natural Resources. They shot the alligator, cut it open, removed Hedden's arm from the reptile's stomach, put it in a picnic cooler filled with ice and rushed it to the hospital with a police escort. An alligator holds the arm of a man in its jaws after it attacked a diver in Lake Moultrie in South Carolina.  View larger image | | Nurses who happened to be picnicing at Lake Moultrie saved a diver who lost his arm in an alligator attack. View larger image Bill Salisbury, captain of Berkeley County Rescue Squad, said the arm appeared to be in relatively good condition. Hospital officials declined to comment on the specifics but told CDNN doctors have not yet decided whether the arm can be reattached. DNR officials said it was the worst attack on record in the state of South Carolina. Some 200,000 people visit the park each year. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
