Animal Attack, Summer 1997, by Kurt Hansen

From MemoryArchive

Who: Kurt Hansen
What: Animal Attack
When: Summer 1997
Where: Kiawah Island, S.C.

Minding my own business

The Culprit

I was thirteen years old the summer I was going into eighth grade. As an end of the summer August vacation, my family decided to travel to Kiawah Island, S.C. As it turned out, this vacation was mostly for my parents as they played the pristine golf courses in the area all day while my brother, Andrew, and I spent time "bonding." He was soon to depart for boarding school, as he had failed the tenth grade, so we had but precious few days for him to beat the crap out of me. On the second to last day of our vacation feeling guilty for leaving my brother and I to our own devices all week, our parents decided we should spend more time together by going on a marsh canoe tour, a popular tourist attraction of the island. What seemed like a noble effort to spend time as a family and enjoy the pristine wildlife, turned into a disastrous encounter with a not so friendly local.

For the tour, the groups were split into canoe groups, me and my brother electing to share one together. As my brother and I paddled through the marshes examining wonderful specimens of mud, our playful banter quickly escalated. Putting his hands on the gunnels (sides of the boat) my brother violently flipped us into the boggy abyss. As we were splashing about, our dad’s canoe paddled up to us to perform the t- boat rescue maneuver. Since my brother was clearly at fault for the capsizing, he had to help right the boat. While I waited, the current carried me a bit further from the group and towards the shore. What I didn’t notice at the time was that I was approaching a patch of matted down reads, a telltale sign of alligator nesting grounds. What you don’t realize at the time is that alligators are fiercely protective of their nesting areas, and due to their superior anatomy, are virtually unnoticeable while they are swimming. Hearing feint splashes to my rear, I turned about quickly only to catch a glimpse of a thrusting salt water alligator launching at my face. I threw up my arm to block the animal. The gator got a slight grip on my arm and tried to wrestle me under. I punched and gauged, but luckily the gator’s loose grip and the fact that everyone else in the canoes were close enough by allowed for my dad to pull me out of the water from the animals grasp. Luckily no major arteries were punctured, and the chunk of flesh he bit was still barely attached to my arm. I was transported to the local hospital for stitching, but I was incredibly in pretty good shape, escaping with just a few other minor cuts. That pretty much capped off our family vacation and soon after my brother was shipped away to boarding school.