A Florida man and his dogs are lucky to be alive after an alligator attacked. The man was in the 11-foot gator’s mouth, being dragged away when his neighbor drove by in a Lincoln SUV. The neighbor quickly threw it in reverse and ran the alligator over. 

Florida man saves neighbor by hitting alligator with SUV 

It was a normal day for Rick Fingeret of Florida as he walked his two labrador retrievers down the road. They walked past a pond along their regular route, where they had seen alligators before. 

But then things suddenly turned deadly. The 11-foot beast charged at Fingeret with its mouth open at 10 mph. Fingeret started backing away but tripped and the gator had him in its jaws. 

The alligator started trying to drag Fingeret toward the water but struggled. He was a bit large for the alligator. He started fighting back and poking its eyes, but couldn’t get free. The dogs were frozen in terror. 

Walt Rudder and Paula Keegan happened to drive by at the right moment. They saw Fingeret lying on his side screaming and thought he may have fallen. Then they realized he was in the alligator’s mouth. 

Fingeret said to get his dogs in the Lincoln SUV and to run the gator over. Rudder followed his instructions and the alligator ran back to the water after being run over. 

According to Good News Network, As police officers arrived, Rudder and Keegan stopped Fingeret’s bleeding with a t-shirt and dog leash. 

He was lucky because the alligator didn’t break any bones, tore any ligaments, or punctured his femoral artery. The neighbors are now best friends and rejoiced as they watch animal authorities that deal with problem gators take the beast away.