A Florida man named Steven Hamilton was just killed by a nearly 12-foot alligator while fishing along a lakeshore.
Then the 911 calls from August dropped.
What witnesses screamed into that phone makes this the most chilling Florida water story of the year.
What Witnesses Saw on the Silver River
Dina Spann, 58, was swimming with a group near Ray Wayside Park in Marion County when a nearly 10-foot alligator locked onto her arm and dragged her under.
She didn't panic.
She fought.
Her son, Zach Guerrina, told the New York Post his mother was fighting to keep the animal's jaws from reaching her legs while trying to surface for air.
"It had her, but she said she was trying to make sure it didn't get to her legs," Guerrina said.
https://twitter.com/nypost/status/2118682569868824673?a=9a05dlwwGSFDn92X1Vo&s=20
The 911 calls, obtained by the Post and released last week, capture the chaos above the waterline while Dina was fighting for her life below it.
"Somebody got bit by an alligator, I think her arm got bit – it's dangling off," one witness told the dispatcher. "She lost half an arm."
A second caller was barely coherent – a woman screaming and crying while a man explained their location on the Silver River.
"Her arm is gone," he said.
The Boater Who Saved Her Life
Nearby, John Gamache and his father were eating lunch on their boat when they heard screaming.
Gamache looked upriver and saw an alligator head "way above the water and going full speed" toward the swimmers.
He floored it.
By the time Gamache reached the group, the approaching boat had scared the alligator off – but Dina was catastrophically injured.
"It was a terrible injury, bones poking out, blood everywhere," Gamache said.
He grabbed rope from his boat and tied off her arm to slow the bleeding while his father pulled other swimmers aboard.
https://twitter.com/FoxNewsLife/status/2119593064616673600?a=Zqfzhucb0V756NBK5LU&s=20
They raced toward the nearest boat launch and handed Dina off to first responders.
"Obviously, the minutes mattered," he said.
She lost her right arm below the elbow and part of a finger on her left hand.
She came home in good spirits.
Her family called Gamache to thank him.
"They called earlier, and we talked for a while, and it was heartwarming to hear them explain their emotions," Gamache said.
Florida's Deadliest Summer on the Water
On June 21, a snorkeler was bitten on the Rainbow River in Marion County.
One week later, 11-year-old Brodie Terry of Pennsylvania lost his hand to an 8-foot, 7-inch alligator while releasing a fish at a camp near Umatilla.
The very next day – June 28 – 31-year-old Brittany Clark was killed by a 13-foot alligator while swimming with friends in the Econlockhatchee River in Seminole County.
Then came Dina Spann on August 8.
Then in October, Steven Hamilton was killed fishing along the shore of Lake Apopka – the state's second fatal attack of the year.
Florida is home to an estimated 1.3 million alligators.
Since 1948, the state has recorded more than 450 unprovoked attacks, but only 30 fatalities.
Last year. Florida logged 13 attacks and two deaths.
What's driving the spike?
Licensed alligator trapper Chadwick Lairsey put it plainly: "School's out, summer vacations are happening, people are in the water swimming and gators are abundant."
Dina's son added something that should make you furious.
Since his mother's attack, Guerrina said he found TikTok videos of tourists on the Silver River paddling directly toward alligators – getting close enough to touch them.
https://twitter.com/nypost/status/2087593284600312031?a=RGYceXRFAdB9Joj5Dpw&s=20
He's not wrong to be angry.
Wildlife experts and trappers have documented the same pattern statewide: tourists hand-feeding gators from shorelines and kayaks, behavior that is illegal under Florida law and that every professional in the field says is deadly.
An alligator that loses its fear of humans stops acting like a wild animal and starts acting like an ambush predator trained to swim toward people.
Dina Spann fought a 10-foot alligator with her bare hands while it ripped her arm off.
John Gamache drove a boat full throttle toward a killing machine armed with nothing but rope and guts.
Some tourist with a phone taught that gator that humans were harmless – and Dina paid for it with her arm.
Sources:
- Andrea Margolis, "Alligator attack on Florida mom sparks panicked 911 call: 'Her arm is gone,'" Fox News, November 8, 2026.
- Fox News Digital Staff, "Boater scared off alligator, used rope to stop bleeding after Florida woman lost arm," Fox News, August 2026.
- Fox News/OutKick Staff, "Son of Florida alligator attack victim says tourists and TikTokers are emboldening the gators," OutKick/Fox News, August 2026.
- Fox 35 Orlando Staff, "Woman's arm amputated after surviving alligator bite in Marion County Silver River, family says," Fox 35 Orlando, August 2026.
- Bob McNally, "Florida alligator attacks spike," Outdoor Life, July 6, 2026.
- Fox News Staff, "Authorities identify woman killed in alligator attack while swimming with friends in Central Florida," Fox News, June 30, 2026.
