Overview
- Jonathan Bruney was training for an Ironman when an estimated 4- to 5-foot alligator struck his right bicep and bit him during a swim on Sunday, and he freed himself by gouging the animal's eye.
- Fellow swimmers dragged Bruney to a dock, tied a makeshift tourniquet from a swim buoy cord, and called emergency responders who treated a 4- to 5-inch wound before he went to Wellstar Hospital by personal vehicle.
- Local officers searched the shoreline after the attack but did not find the alligator, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has not confirmed the reptile's size or whether it poses an ongoing threat.
- Bruney is recovering and has said he will avoid swimming for three to four weeks as he heals, and his teammates credited training and quick action for preventing a far worse injury.
- The incident follows other summer inland alligator encounters and underscores public-safety challenges for wildlife agencies that remove animals only when they are confirmed threats and rely on public reports to locate them.