Florida Alligator Attack Victim Shares Update on Gruesome Injuries

Dina Spann, 58, a retired woman, has shared an update on her recovery following a severe alligator attack that occurred on August 8 in Florida's Silver River. Spann suffered extensive injuries to her right arm, resulting in an amputation below the elbow, and also lost half of the ring finger on her left hand.

Spann posted on Facebook, accompanied by a video, stating, "Recovery isn't always pretty, but I'm learning to laugh through the hard parts and celebrate every little victory." The video showed her in the hospital with her arm bandaged and medical professionals tending to her wounds. She added, "The gator got a piece of me. It didn’t get the best of me."

Her son, Zach Guerrina, previously described to The Post that his mother's arm was "hanging by a thread" after the attack. He recounted how Spann fought back, attempting to hold the alligator's mouth shut and swimming to the surface for air to prevent it from attacking her legs. Despite her struggle, the alligator latched onto her right forearm.

Following the incident, trappers contracted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) captured and removed a 9-foot, 8-inch alligator from the river. The river was subsequently reopened to the public.

Guerrina, a carpenter and father of five, explained that he had left his mother with other family members in the river just minutes before the attack. Bystanders intervened, and used Spann's bikini top and a rope as a makeshift tourniquet to control the bleeding from her arm. He noted his mother's remarkable calmness during the traumatic event.

While swimming is prohibited in the river, Guerrina suggested that increased proximity of tourists to alligators, including feeding and petting them, may have contributed to the attack. The incident occurred weeks after another fatal alligator attack on hiker Brittany Clark and a separate attack where an 11-year-old boy lost a hand in June.