‘Hungry’ 10-foot alligator attacks woman, 71, in Fla.
She was tending to her backyard garden near edge of a lake
FORT MYERS, FLA. A 71-year-old south Lee County, Fla., woman suffered arm and leg injuries after she was bitten by a 10-foot-plus alligator Sunday afternoon in a gated community.
Genie Witzel’s afternoon of tending to her lush English garden in the backyard of her Cypress Haven Drive home on Sunday turned to terror when she was attacked by a 101⁄ 2- foot alligator.
Neighbors expressed dismay, horror and a bit of pride Monday that their neighbor survived such a horrific experience.
“It’s a shame,” said Lynn Portnoy, a friend of Witzel’s. “She was about 20 feet from the edge of the lake. It must have been stalking her.”
Portnoy said her friend was tending to her garden as she usu- ally does when the gator attacked. “She had her tools in hand,” she said. “She fought back.”
Portnoy said almost everyone in the community knew that the alligator was there and took precautions.
Witzel was in fair condition in the intensive care unit Monday at Lee Memorial Hospital.
When emergency workers from the San Carlos Fire Department arrived, Witzel was in her home lanai with her leg elevated and pressure being applied to her lower leg. Emergency workers treated her for shock before transporting her by helicopter to the hospital, said fire department spokeswoman Alexis Rothring.
Laurie Koenecke, also a friend of Witzel’s, said her neighbor has a lovely English-style garden that she is devoted to.
“This is pretty scary,” she said. “This is our worst nightmare. We all live with a pond in our backyard, and we all assume there’s a gator in every pond. They are stealthy and quiet.”
Neighbor Ed Lode said Witzel lives two doors down from him and he often sees her in her backyard tending her garden.
“She does work in her yard a lot,” he said.
Lode took a photo of the gator July 4. The gator was trapped Sunday night and killed, Florida Wildlife Conservation officials said.
“It was just a hungry gator,” Lode said. “Pretty much everyone who lives here knows not to feed the gators.”
The gator attack was the third in Southwest Florida in the past week. A 10-year-old boy was bitten in Arcadia in the Peace River, and a 51-year-old man was bitten on the arm while diving for golf balls in Rotonda West in Charlotte County.
“This is our worst nightmare. We all live with a pond in our backyard, and we all assume there’s a gator in every pond. They are stealthy and quiet.”
Laurie Koenecke