ONE Florida The man who lost an arm after being bitten by an alligator while trying to urinate outside a bar said it was “not the end of the world.”
A local NBC affiliate identified Jordan Rivera like the man in question. Rivera is said to have lost his right arm early Sunday morning after Banditos Bar in Port Charlotte, Florida.
RELATED: Father charged with murder after his two-year-old son was found dead in alligator’s mouth
The 23-year-old is somehow still optimistic about the incident despite the loss of an appendage, he told the outlet.
“I was just going to go over there and pee a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t lose my life,” Rivera told NBC2. “I lost an arm. It’s not the end of the world…”
Rivera continued: “Those crocodiles, I didn’t really understand them until I woke up in the hospital and was like, ‘Oh, the alligator took your arm.’”
Reptiles are responsible for limb-tearing bites up to 10 feet 5 inches long. It has since been removed from the pond and destroyed according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission protocol.
Crocodile bit off the man’s right arm just above the elbow, recalling the macabre memory of the incident
Meanwhile, outlets reported that Rivera did the NBC2 interview just 1.5 days after losing her arm.
The alligator bit off his right arm just above the elbow, nearly killing Jordan. However, he added, he was “still able to move my arm around and nothing.”
“They took my elbow. So I don’t have elbows,” Rivera said. “I can still move my arm around and nothing.”
He recounted what he remembered from that morning. After noticing that the cord in the bathroom in Banditos was too long, Rivera walked to the back pond to go to the bathroom.
“So I ended up walking to the waterhole, and I didn’t realize how big it was at the time, because I was walking through it when something happened that either tripped me or the ground beneath me sank, ‘ said Rivera. “I ended up in the water. And that’s really the last thing I remember.”
Rivera said the next thing he remembers was being in the hospital, where he was told the alligator had taken his arm.
ONLY ONLY @NBC2 🚨 Jordan Rivera lost his right arm when he was attacked by an alligator early Sunday morning.
Now, he just believes @NBC2 to share his survival story.
Tonight, I’m talking to Jordan and his mother from the ICU at @Lee_HealthGulf Coast Hospital. pic.twitter.com/53mKkxNRgv
– Gage Goulding – NBC2 (@GageGoulding) May 23, 2023
Rivera’s mother thanks bar patrons for rushing to Jordan’s aid during crocodile attack
He describes the feeling of having no hands and calls the whole situation “almost in the movie”.
“It feels like my arm is just there, but not there,” he said. “It was just the craziest thing. The movie’s almost over.”
Meanwhile, his mother, Teresa Lessa, told the network it was “very traumatic” but added, “he is (still) here.”
“It was the best thing, that I got him. Yes, the arm is gone, very painful. But he’s here,” said Teresa Lessa.
Lessa thanked the bar’s patrons, like Manny Hidalgo, who took action as soon as they heard Rivera’s screams.
“I call them angels who were there, saved his life,” Lessa said. “For me, the chance for someone to be there with the tourniquet, it’s a miracle that he’s here.”
Some accuse Rivera of trying to feed the crocodile, Rivera denies the allegation
While many in Florida admired Rivera’s resilience, others accused him of trying to feed alligators.
Rivera categorically refused to feed the crocodile at the time of the attack.
“That’s not true at all,” he said. “They don’t even serve food at that bar, so I can’t even serve crocodile food.”
Those interested in donating to Rivera’s GoFundMe account can do so This. Over 90 sponsors raised $13,955 on the $50,000 goal since the publication of this article.
