Gator severs 11-year-old's arm

NEW ORLEANS — On a day typical in its heat and humidity, a swim in a neighborhood pond seemed a fine idea to 11-year-old Devin Funck and two of his friends.

Big Joe had other ideas.

At 10 feet, 8 inches long and weighing an estimated 500 pounds, the alligator was a familiar sight in the ponds abutting two subdivisions near Slidell, La. — familiar enough that locals long ago gave the reptile a nickname.

As Devin and his companions frolicked in Crystal Lake on Wednesday afternoon, they spotted the imposing creature swimming toward them. They darted toward shore, but the alligator overtook Devin and pulled him under.

Big Joe bit Devin's left arm off, all the way to the shoulder.

On Thursday, a family friend said doctors were unable to reattach the arm officials retrieved from the belly of Big Joe about 3 ½ hours after the attack.

"They could not save the arm," family friend Cory Dunn said. "He's got a long way to go, lots of surgery. He'll need prosthesis."

Devin was in stable condition Thursday at Ochsner Hospital, Dunn said.

"It was a miracle that the boy resurfaced, and it was the miracle of all miracles that the gator did not come back a second time as the boy lay in the water," Sheriff Jack Strain said.

As the gator attacked, the two girls who had been swimming with Devin scrambled to shore and ran for help. Three sheriff's deputies nearby pulled the maimed youth out and sped him to a hospital.

Meanwhile, deputies and other authorities converged on the pond to hunt down Big Joe. Their hope: Find the right alligator, kill it, cut it open and retrieve Devin's arm in a condition that might make it possible for doctors to reattach it.

St. Tammany alligator expert and sheriff's Deputy Howard McCrea said he found Big Joe within half an hour of the attack. But it took another 2 ½ hours to kill and land the big reptile, cut it open and retrieve the arm.

Officials immediately placed the arm in an ice chest and rushed it to the New Orleans hospital where doctors were waiting.

Officials were not sure why the alligator attacked, although in warm weather they feed more often, said Noel Kinler, manager of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' alligator program. Feeding alligators can also decrease their fear of people and lead to attacks.

People living in the area know about the alligators that swim in the three small lakes and waterways around their houses. But they hadn't been especially worried — alligator attacks in Louisiana are rare and usually the injuries are not serious. Only 13 fatalities were recorded nationally since 2000, and none was in Louisiana.

"This was a very large gator and as they get bigger they can become more aggressive," Kinler said. "It's too bad someone didn't contact us to get it out of there."

Devin, who is entering the sixth grade, loves the outdoors and also playing with his new PlayStation 3, said his mother, Kim Funck. His first words to her after the attack were: "I'm sorry, I know alligators are dangerous," and, "How am I going to play my game now?"