BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A duck hunter who was attacked by an alligator last week in the Florida Everglades spoke Monday to News 6's sister station Local 10 in Miami about the ordeal.
"It was survive, get away from this thing," Krit Krutchaiyan said about what he was thinking when he was attacked by the gator.
Krutchaiyan was released from Broward Health Medical Center after he was attacked by the alligator on Friday.
"The alligator came out from under the water (and) grabbed my leg," he said. "I remember putting my hand down. I don't know if I hit him with the paddle or with my fists, but he let go."
But the gator didn't let go before doing quite a number on his leg.
Krutchaiyan and his friend, Robert Gautier, were duck hunting in the Everglades and walking in waist-deep water with kayaks in tow.
He said they were walking through a hunter's trail when Krutchaiyan felt something hit his leg. He said the gator came up and took a bite from his thigh as Gautier jumped in to try to rescue him.
"I saw his mouth coming toward me again, (and) my buddy shoves the kayak in between the alligator and me, and I think if he hadn't done that, he would have bit me again," Krutchaiyan said.
Two off-duty firefighters happened to be hunting in the area.
Firefighter Paul Burton tied a tourniquet around Krutchaiyan's leg and put him in a friend's truck before taking him to a rescue chopper.
Krutchaiyan said they kept him awake before he was treated at the hospital.