Spann was on a family boating outing with two teenage relatives, her brother’s girlfriend and her son Zach Guerrina when the gator lunged, locking onto her right forearm and biting off part of her left ring finger. Guerrina later told The Miami Herald that his mother fought back, trying to shut the animal’s mouth and keep it from reaching her legs, even as her arm “hung by a thread.”
Bystanders who witnessed the attack quickly fashioned a makeshift tourniquet from Spann’s bikini top and an anchor rope, stemming the bleeding until emergency responders arrived. “She was as calm as a cucumber,” Guerrina recalled, adding that the rescue team later bandaged her arm in the hospital.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission dispatched trappers the following day, who captured the 9‑foot‑8‑inch alligator and subsequently reopened the Silver River to the public. The agency has reiterated that swimming in the river is prohibited, citing the recent spate of attacks on humans.
Spann’s Facebook post, accompanied by the hospital video, included a brief statement: “The gator got a piece of me. It didn’t get the best of me.” She also wrote that recovery “isn’t always pretty, but I’m learning to laugh through the hard parts and celebrate every little victory.”
The incident follows a series of high‑profile alligator encounters in Florida this summer, including the June 28 death of hiker Brittany Clark, who was killed by a 13‑foot gator in the Econlockhatchee River, an 11‑year‑old boy who lost a hand in June, and a June 27 attack on Pennsylvania resident Brodie Terry by an 8‑foot‑7‑inch gator in Marion County.
Guerrina blamed the surge in attacks on tourists who approach, feed or attempt to pet the reptiles, despite clear signage warning against swimming or close contact with alligators in the state’s waterways.