Man’s arm recovered from alligator's stomach

An alligator bit a 59-year-old man’s arm off Sunday at a Lake Moultrie recreation area, officials said.

Bill Hedden, 59, was in critical condition at the Medical University of South Carolina. His arm, retrieved from the belly of the alligator after wildlife officers shot it, was on ice while doctors evaluated whether it could be reattached, said Bill Salisbury, Berkeley County Rescue Squad captain.

Hedden stumbled into a party of picnickers with his arm missing and blood gushing from his wound. Five nurses were among those at the gathering and put ice on his wound and kept him awake until paramedics could arrive.



Jerome Bien followed the man’s trail of blood to the shore, where he saw the gator with victim’s arm in its jaw. “He was just smiling at me,” Bien said.

Department of Natural Resources officers showed up later and shot the animal, which was nearly 12-feet long and weighed about 550 pounds. The officers cut the gator open and removed the man’s arm.

“The arm, surprisingly, was not chewed up like you would think it would be,” Salisbury said.