A group of picnickers  were feasting on pork and dancing while picnicking at Lake Moultrie one Sunday afternoon when a man in snorkel gear came stumbling  through the tree line, holding onto his left shoulder where his arm used to be.


Five nurses were among those at the picnic quickly put the man on the ground. They used ice on his wound, told him to take deep breaths and told him stories to keep him awake. 

One of the picnickers traced the trail of blood through the trees and to the shore where he saw a pool of blood on the ground. 

I'm posting this as a reminder that although this incident is unrelated, one should never try to retrieve a golf ball near a pond on a southern golf course. 

*Warning*
Graphic Photos Below...

 
Blood gushed from between his fingers. 'Call my wife, call my wife,' the man said through a snorkel mask. 

  
 About 25 feet out in the water in front of him, the eyes of a giant alligator stared back. The victim's arm remained clenched in its jaws. 


 
   
 Officers from the state's Department of Natural Resources shot the 550-pound reptile, cut it open, and removed Hedden's arm from its stomach, then placed the limb in a picnic cooler and rushed it to the hospital with a police escort. 

 
Doctors decided against attempting to reattach the arm.