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Florida

Before and after photos show miraculous gator attack survivor

JC Defeats drone was recording when an alligator went straight for him in a lake

Pilar Arias By Pilar Arias Fox News
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Alligator attack survivor, photos tell miraculous story Video

Alligator attack survivor, photos tell miraculous story

A Florida man not only has a story of surviving an alligator attack but the pictures and video to prove it.

JC Defeats was at Lake Thonotosassa on Aug. 3 shooting an instructional video for an upcoming event through his company, Defeat-X. His drone was recording when an alligator went straight for him, FOX 13 News Tampa reports. 

"I was chomped down on this side, like completely," he told the TV station.

The jaws of the gator came down on his head and upper torso. The attack lasted only seconds, but Defeats said he knew he would make it out alive. 

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Before and after photographs of alligator attack victim JC Defeats

Photos show JC Defeats before and after the gator attack. 

"An unbelievable amount of faith in myself that I wasn’t going to die," he recalled. "I was going to be OK, but I needed to act for sure." 

Defeats said he fought back by putting his hands in the alligator's mouth.

"She let go, and she didn’t have to let go," Defeats said.

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Alligator on highway

A large alligator crosses a Florida highway (iStock)

He immediately swam to a nearby dock. Pain hit once the adrenaline wore off, and he was out of the water. He was also reportedly losing a lot of blood.

Neighbors called for help, and he was taken to a hospital as a trauma alert patient. 

Defeats is a U.S. Air Force veteran and an Oldsmar firefighter. He underwent six hours of surgery due to the alligator's bite that crushed his head, broke his jaw and damaged a facial nerve. 

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Defeats spent eight days in the hospital. He was discharged last week.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told FOX 13 that as of early August, a total of 18 alligator bite incidents have been reported to the agency this year. However, incidents are thoroughly analyzed to determine if an alligator was actually involved, if it was provoked, or unprovoked.