--- description: A woman almost lost her hand when an alligator bit her in the Florida Everglades. title: Woman Almost Loses Hand After Alligator Attack in Florida image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Florida](/tag/florida/) ## Florida Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Woman Almost Loses Hand After Alligator Attack in Florida by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2016 4:38 PM CUT by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2016 4:38 PM CUT A woman bitten by an [alligator](http://time.com/4369998/how-to-avoid-an-alligator-attack/ "undefined") almost lost her hand on Friday. The attack took place in the Florida Everglades, where the 49-year-old woman (who has not been identified), reached into the water after dropping a can. It was then that a four to five-foot long alligator bit her. The woman was standing on a dock when it happened, and people close by grabbed her to prevent her from falling into the water. Officials say she suffered a severe hand injury. “Her right hand was almost totally amputated,” Mike Jachles, spokesman for the Broward Sheriff’s Fire Rescue said, [CNN reports](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/us/florida-alligator-bites-woman/index.html "undefined"). The woman had major blood loss and went into shock. She was taken by helicopter to Broward Health North Trauma Center and she is currently in critical condition, [CBS reports](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-nearly-loses-hand-in-florida-alligator-attack/ "undefined"). In general, alligator attacks are rare. It’s [recommended](http://time.com/4369998/how-to-avoid-an-alligator-attack/ "undefined") that people don’t feed alligators, which is illegal in the state of Florida. You can read more about how to avoid an alligator attack, [here](http://time.com/4369998/how-to-avoid-an-alligator-attack/ "undefined"). \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/us/florida-alligator-bites-woman/index.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4451375/woman-hand-alligator-attack-florida-everglades/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4451375/woman-hand-alligator-attack-florida-everglades/"},"headline":"Woman Almost Loses Hand After Alligator Attack in Florida","datePublished":"2016-08-13T16:38:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:58:02.401Z","description":"She is in critical condition","url":"https://time.com/4451375/woman-hand-alligator-attack-florida-everglades/","keywords":["Florida","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/florida/","name":"Florida"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4451375/woman-hand-alligator-attack-florida-everglades/","name":"Woman Almost Loses Hand After Alligator Attack in Florida"}}]}] ```