05/18/2010 // West Palm Beach, Florida, USA // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan

Orlando, FL—A man’s pleasant early-morning swim was cut short after an 8-foot alligator bit him on Lake Mary Jane. The frightening incident occurred on Sunday, May 16, 2010 in Orlando, Florida, according to information provided by ClickOrlando.com.

A husband and father of two, identified as 35-year-old Doug McCard was reportedly training for a triathlon when he realized he was not alone. At approximately 8:30 a.m. and in the midst of his practice, a gator bit McCard in the torso.

McCard reported, “All of a sudden it hit me like a Mack truck or something. I just got hit real hard, and I felt the teeth and I said, I started thinking to myself, ‘This is a gator, I can’t believe a gator is biting me’…I knew I was in really shallow water, maybe waist deep, so I tried to spin myself and stand up and started swinging. Got a pretty good elbow to his head and he released me.”

McCard managed to escape from the alligator but suffered serious wounds. He was subsequently rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center to be treated by doctors and nurses. He was given antibiotics as a means of preventing a potential infection. He was expected to spend the night at the hospital.

After the attack, the beach at Moss Park was closed as a trapper was reportedly sent out to kill the gator.

A woman identified as Daphne, who has visited and enjoyed Lake Mary Jane for years, noted, “We will go out there and my kids can touch the ground. They swim around and go under water and everything… I’m scared to go in the water. I don’t want them to go in the water, and I don’t want to go in the water.”

Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan- Legal News for Florida Personal Injury Lawyers.

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