Man continues to suffer two years after gator attack

May 11, 2017 News

The British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, on Tuesday, broadcast a story in which a ten-year-old American girl fought off a ten-foot alligator which had grabbed onto her left leg.

Still suffering: Mahadeo Narine

The youngster said, “I was there swimming when this ten-foot alligator grabbed my leg. I hit him, but he did not let me go. So, I put my finger up its nose and it could not breathe, thereby forcing it to open its mouth to breathe, and at the same time releasing my leg. That is what you do.” The injuries sustained were not severe enough to keep the victim off her feet. She was presented in the video clip just a short time after the incident, with her left leg heavily bandaged, but she was able to walk without support even though with a limp.
A sixty-nine year West Berbice man, Mahadeo Narine, of Plantation Ross, who two years ago cheated death like the young American did, after an encounter with an alligator, was however not as fortunate. On June 12, 2015, the West Berbice man, also known as Tilak, had begun his day as usual. He could not have imagined that it would have marked such a change in his life. He counts himself as being very fortunate to be alive.
It was about 7:00 hours, and Tilak had gone to the nearby canal as usual to wash a trough which was used to feed his ducks. According to the farmer, he had just assumed a stooping position when there was a sudden swift attack by a ten-foot alligator which totally surprised him.
Even if there may have been alligators around, he never thought that there might be an attack on humans. The alligator with one swift motion, grabbed him by the right arm, between the wrist and the elbow, and dragged him into the water which turned out to be chest deep.
In that moment, Tilak said that he recalled hearing about alligators resorting to the death roll to drown their prey, and so rather than to give way to panic, he put the reptile into a head lock, squeezing with all his might to ensure that the animal could not go into the death roll. At the same time he kept shouting for help, but no one came to his assistance.
The struggle raged for about 20 minutes until the alligator, maybe realising that it was not making the kind of progress expected, released its grip and swam away. Tilak himself was quite relieved when he realized that the alligator had decided that it had had enough. Tilak emerged from the canal with a mangled right arm, and was taken to the Mahaicony Hospital where the authorities cleaned up his wounds before transferring him to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
He was hospitalized for over two weeks. Doctors were forced to implant metal in the arm because of damage done to the bone. He has twice had surgery on his arm so far, and has another appointment later this month, as doctors seek to restore the damaged arm in the best way possible.
And Tilak is quite hopeful, especially since he cannot do much using that hand. While he is able to grab a pen and other small objects, he claims that the hand cannot take much pressure. However, he is very happy to be alive, as the situation could have been worse for him.

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