A 34-year-old Florida man described in harrowing detail how he survived the near death when he was previously attacked by a 12-foot alligator. I explained. This month we focused on how it felt to have everything from reptile “scales” to “teeth” breaking through your skin.
"That was big," Juan Carlos La Verde said in a recent interview with ABC Action News.
The attack was on August 3 when 34-year-old Oldsmer firefighter was filming a promotion for his adventure training company DefeatX. Firefighters were in a bit of a hurry that day in their first sit-down interview with the news media since the raid, in an 839-acre body of water located about 20 miles northeast of Tampa. and that, had it not been for these circumstances, he would normally have been more careful: Before entering the lake, he knew it was the natural habitat of large predators.
"This time, I was just trying to finish it in a hurry, and I was so focused that I forgot my swim cap. I forgot my goggles," La Verde said. .
Drone footage captured the vicious attack while La Verde was training for a triathlon.
Before he could react, Adventure his trainer knew what was going on when he felt the alligator's jaws tighten mid-stroke. He said he understood immediately.
Juan Carlos La Verde, 34, jumped from a 12-foot alligator earlier this month.
(GoFundMe)
"On the right stroke, all I could feel were scales and teeth." A 34-year-old man said, That jaw”.
"Because I knew I was an alligator."
12 feet approaching Juan Carlos La Verde swimming in a lake in Florida.
(ABC Action News/video screengrab)
At this point, the creature's bite is said to have detached him, freeing his bleeding head and limbs from his jaw. He suspects he came out of confusion rather than fear.
"It was confused, just like I was confused, and I just let it go," he said.
After wrestling with a crocodile, La Verde faced the next hurdle to survival. He was to swim back to shore and be treated for serious injuries to his head and jaw.
La Verde and his wife Christine discuss the harrowing details of the August 3 alligator attack on the local news
(ABC Action News/video screengrab)
Finding a man by the lake, the Good Samaritan offered to take him to Tampa General Hospital. He had just suffered a serious crocodile attack.
"I'm not going to put extra stress on someone who's already driving a bloodied man somewhere else," he wrote on his ABC. told Action News.
At a GoFundMe organized for former U.S. Air Force members, North his colleagues at the Pinellas Firefighters Charity informed him that he had undergone his six-hour surgery. describes how the damage was repaired and reconstructed. Crocodile jaws to the skull and jaws.
"JC is a man who has dedicated his life to helping others. He has always chosen the path of selfless and meaningful service and has devoted his entire life to service." An online fundraiser describing a year-old reading points out that he first served in the Air Force and now works as a firefighter and paramedic...in the Oldsmer.
Juan Carlos La Verde, 34, was attacked by a crocodile and injured both his head and jaw and spent six hours to heal the wounds. He underwent extensive surgery and is recovering in hospital
(ABC Action News/Video Screengrab)
"He has a lifelong contagious spirit. He is energized by his family, friends, and passion for athletics," said Brooks, before seeking financial help to offset medical bills and help his wife, Christine, support his recovery.
Speaking to local Florida news media, Mr. La Verde admits the whole experience was a humbling one, and the zigzag stitches that thread through his shaved head and chin. is a daily reminder of facing his death.
"I'm totally fine. It's actually made me better because it's given me a new perspective, but not many people get it," he said. 89}
Shortly after the August 3 attack, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said agency agents caught a pesky crocodile trapper near the same location where Mr. La Verde was bitten. I reported it but could not confirm if it was genuine. According to WFTS
