Scott Lahodik gives God the credit for his recovery, but daily antibiotics and a lot of gauze to cover up his flesh wounds are certainly helping.
Lahodik was hired to recover golf balls at the Rotonda Golf and Country Club on Florida's west coast earlier this month, when he had an encounter with an alligator that he'll never forget.
“When I looked to my left, the gators snout and teeth were right here and I saw my arm in the back of his jaws," said Lahoidk, showing the wide mark left by the gator.
"If I would have started pulling my arm, the gator, being 10 and a half feet long and 600 pounds, would have shook his head and my arm would have been gone.”
RELATED | Man attacked by gator at Rotonda Golf & Country Club The Palms Course in Charlotte County
Lahodik punched the gator, got free, and somehow made it out of the water and back to the clubhouse.
“Thank God the waitress was at the bar because I yelled at her to call 911.”
On the 911 call you hear the woman tell the dispatcher, "He says it’s ugly, it’s all the way down to the bone.”
In 30 years of diving, Lahodik had never been attacked.
Just to give you an idea of how far Lahodik has come, in his post surgery summary, it's written, “miraculously he has good motor function.”
“The gator didn’t hit the artery and he didn’t rip the major nerves in the arm," said Lahodik.
Lahodik says he got strength knowing people around the world were praying for him.
“Especially when people realize I was doing my job. I wasn’t a drunk guy antagonizing a gator.”
While he’s not sure if he’d physically be able to return to work, he knows mentally, he can’t do it anymore. Lahodik and his family moved to Vero Lake Estates a few months ago and is thankful new neighbors have been helping them out as he figures out what to do next. There is a Go Fund Me account set up to help the family with ongoing medical expenses. To find out more, click here.
