US3 min(s) read
Published 15:52 02 Jul 2026 GMT
The father of a 31-year-old woman who was killed in an alligator attack in Florida has spoken about the devastating phone call he received as desperate attempts were made to save her life.
Brittany Clark suffered catastrophic injuries after a 12-foot alligator attacked her while she was swimming in the Econlockhatchee River with her boyfriend, Chance Allison, and roommate, Jayden Hernandez.
She was rushed to a hospital but is believed to have died after losing a massive amount of blood.
Her father Robert Clark said the tragedy unfolded while his family was already mourning the loss of his mother, Barbara, who died at the age of 80 just days earlier.
Robert told The New York Post: “I received a call on Sunday from Brittany’s roommate Jayden and she was explaining as it was happening.
“They were trying to keep her alive and waiting for the authorities to show up.“
According to reports, the alligator clamped its jaws around Brittany, tearing off both of her arms. Her boyfriend tried to fight off the animal but was unable to stop the attack.
A 911 call captured the panic at the scene, with one caller describing Brittany's injuries as “horrible”, adding that “one of her arms is completely off and the other one is like attached barely.”
Hernandez later shared a Facebook post describing how the group had joked about the possibility of an alligator being beneath them in the murky water shortly before the attack.
He wrote: “There were air bubbles within our little triangle we made with our bodies in the water and I commented on how it might be a sneaky gator and Chance, Brittany’s boyfriend, swam right over it to show nothing was there and nothing was there.
“And just a few minutes later my bestfriend got attacked.”
A medical examiner's report states: “While they were swimming an alligator grabbed [Brittany] by her arm and began the ‘death roll’.
“Her boyfriend Chance grabbed the alligator trying to get it to release her when it took them both underwater.”
The report continues: “Chance attempted to bring them both to shore when the alligator finally let go and CPR was started on shore by her boyfriend, and 911 was called.”
The fatal attack came during a series of recent alligator encounters in central Florida.
According to the report, a boy was bitten on the hand while fishing with his father 24 hours before Brittany's death. Officials later euthanized the 8-foot alligator believed to have been responsible.
A snorkeler was also bitten in Rainbow River on June 21, about 100 miles from the site of the fatal attack. The river was temporarily closed before wildlife officials located and removed the animal.
Florida has recorded more than 450 alligator attacks since 1948, with 30 of those incidents proving fatal.
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