Elsie Kyle is suing the private gated community where she lived at the time of the attack for «permitting an unreasonably dangerous and unsafe condition»
Elsie Kyle remembers her thigh bones cracking as the eight-foot alligator crashed into her legs.
«It sounded like a massive crack,» she said, describing her left leg. , but she said her right side was «kind of crushed.»
Prior to the incident, the 82-year-old mother of two was adjusting to life after her husband, 28, John, passed away.< /p>< p>She went for mountain counseling, played golf at a local club and loved to dance with her friends.
But when she walked her dog Lulu on September 2, 2021 near the 15m artificial lagoon from her home in the Hilton- Head Island, everything changed in an instant.
“I looked down and saw this huge alligator, quite a big guy, especially since I’m only four feet 11, and I got goosebumps. ,» she told The Telegraph.
“I tried to run away, but I lost my balance. The alligator jumped out of the water and bit my legs. It was the first bite. I was so shocked I didn't feel any pain.»
Alligators usually make a death roll, a hunting move that they quickly swirl their prey underwater to disorientate and drown. Photo: Wirestock
“I remember being underwater and I jabbed my finger into the eye of an alligator. I remember because it was wet and disgusting.”
The creature then performed a death roll, a hunting move in which alligators rapidly swirl their prey underwater to disorientate and drown it.
“He rolled me through the water, and I know for a fact that my dog’s retractable leash was wrapped around my arm because I never let it go.”
Fortunately, her neighbors, Mary Montour and Lane Carver, heard her screams and ran to her aid.
“ I was still in shallow water, I raised my hands and Mary grabbed them, but the alligator did not let go.”
It only happened when Mr. Carver hit the animal on the head. shovel to loosen his grip. He then made a second attempt, grabbing onto Mrs. Kyle, but released her after a few more blows.
Ms. Kyle's neighbors dragged her to the ground, and the widow said, «I don't have legs.»
p>The former business owner was taken to the hospital, where doctors did not expect her to survive. She underwent several surgeries for two weeks, and her daughter had to beg them not to remove her legs.
'The alligator didn't kill me, but it certainly took what was left of my normal life'
Now she has a metal rod in each leg and has undergone reconstructive surgery using both skin grafts from her body and synthetic skin.
When she lifts her pants, it's clear the doctors tried do. plaster on gaping wounds left by animals. She can no longer walk unaided and her legs go numb.
“I can't even begin to tell you what I've been through. The alligator did not kill me, but it certainly took what was left of my normal life.
“I would be fine, I was mobile and could do almost everything. I now live in a nursing home for the elderly.”
She was attacked just 10 kilometers from where Holly Jenkins was killed earlier this month. Like 69-year-old Jenkins, she has lived on the island for 30 years.
“That would be me if it wasn’t for my neighbors,” she said. «I can't imagine what this poor woman's family is going through.»
Ms. Kyle was born in New Jersey and moved to a slice of paradise in South Carolina after she and her husband sold their manufacturing business. food appliances. industry.
A sign outside Mrs. Kyle's new apartment at the nursing home
«I was very knowledgeable about alligators, because she was always there for them,” she said.
Ms. Kyle has since moved out of her home and is suing the private gated community where she lived, the Hilton Head Plantation Owners Association (HHPPOA) and the Rookery Community Association, an area in the area, for rude behavior. negligent, negligent and reckless.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2022 in Beaufort County District Court, accuses organizations of “permitting unreasonably dangerous and unsafe conditions” and “failing to take appropriate measures to prevent alligators from attacking people.»
Kenneth Berger, representing Ms. Kyle, said developers are inviting alligators into neighborhoods and people's backyards, artificially creating habitat for them.
«It's okay. but you need to have basic wildlife management and monitoring so that innocent people are not harmed or killed.»
Peter Christian, general manager of HHPPOA, said: «We do not comment on issues related to unfinished or active litigation.
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