Gator Attacks 6-Year-Old; Father And Bystander Come To Rescue

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a 6-year-old Boy, Joey Welsh, is lucky to be alive after a terrifying close encounter with an alligator.

The incident took place Friday afternoon during a father and son canoe trip at the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach, FL reports WPLG Local 10.

Joey Welsh wandered into the water shortly after this father and that's when the eight-foot alligator latched onto his arm.

"I heard these blood-curdling screams and I saw this gator that had his right arm in his jaw and I just freaked," father Joseph Welch told WSVN 7.

Joseph Welsh jumped right into action to rescue his son.

"I didn't want to play tug-of-war with the alligator and get his arm ripped off," he told the news station. "So I started punching the alligator on top of the head as hard as I could."

A stranger nearby also rushed to help and started kicking the alligator in the stomach to get it to release Joey. When the alligator finally let go of Joey he was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Joey only suffered very minor injuries.

Local 10 reports that the gator was later captured by a licensed trapper and killed due to its aggressive behavior.

Welsh said his son's survival without serious injury was miraculous, considering the bone-crushing force of more than 2,000 pounds that can be exerted by an alligator's jaws. He could only explain it by thinking of something his wife does for Joey.

"Every single night when she puts him to bed she prays for God's angels to protect him," he said. "We both attribute it to that. There's really no rational reason for him to be unscathed."

Read the South Florida Sun-Sentinel story HERE