SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A 13-year-old boy is sharing his experience after being bitten by an alligator in a creek in Seminole County. The incident occurred on Tuesday evening in Winter Springs, but he is now recovering at home.
Gabriel Klimis, the young boy, mentioned that he had been to this creek several times before without any issues. However, things took a turn for the worse during his swim in Howell Creek that Tuesday afternoon.
“When I was about to get up, the gator suddenly started pulling me back under the water and then jumped up and grabbed me,” Gabriel recalled.
In a moment of self-defense, he instinctively started hitting the alligator on its head, causing it to let go. Gabriel quickly made his way to the safety of the sand.
Although some neighbors had previously mentioned spotting large alligators in the creek, Gabriel had never encountered one until that Tuesday. The incident left his 10-year-old brother, Judah, extremely frightened.
“My initial thought was, ‘you’re going to die,’ because I had never witnessed an alligator bite in person,” Judah expressed.
“We initially feared the worst,” said Allison Klimis, Gabriel’s mother, who herself is a physician. The paramedics’ message startled her.
“They told me, ‘We’re taking your son straight to Arnold Palmer [Hospital].’ I asked, ‘Oh, Arnold Palmer? Is it that serious?’ The paramedic replied, ‘Do you want to see it?’ After taking a quick look, I said, ‘Let’s go straight to Arnold Palmer,'” Allison recounted.
She took a photo of her resilient son in the hospital. Gabriel’s recovery will take some time. He has a bandage covering his wound from his hip to his upper thigh.
“We are extremely concerned about the risk of infection. We consulted with Infectious Disease specialists, and they informed us that it would take about 10 days until we are out of the woods, considering the depth of the wound and exposure to creek water,” Allison explained.
Gabriel described the pain as gradually returning, as he no longer has pain medication, but he assured that it’s manageable.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported capturing an 8-foot alligator on Wednesday evening. They continue to monitor the creek, and Gabriel’s stitches are expected to be removed in a couple of weeks.
