Heroic wife with tomato stake saves man from alligator’s grasp in Sun City
A wife’s quick thinking and a tomato stake saved an 84-year-old Sun City man from the jaws of an 8 1/2-foot alligator during an attack Wednesday morning.
Police say the gator bit down on the man’s leg around 10 a.m. Wednesday as he was spreading mulch in his backyard with his back to a nearby pond. Hearing him yell out, the man’s wife, 76, grabbed a tomato stake from their garden and poked the attacker several times in the eyes and head, according to an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The wife’s resourcefulness worked, the couple told police, and the gator let go of the man. She took her husband into the house and called 911.
First responders quickly wrapped the man’s leg to stop the bleeding, also noting “clear bite marks” elsewhere on his body and a wound on his head from falling during the attack.
A contractor with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources arrived and “hooked” the gator to pull it back to shore. The creature was euthanized by a gunshot to the head due to its “extremely aggressive nature,” the report says.
The man was airlifted to a local hospital, officials said. An update on his medical condition was not immediately available.
The encounter happened outside the couple’s home on Coburn Drive West, which borders the Okatee River in the Okatie Woods neighborhood of Sun City. The man’s wife told deputies the couple had been “very careful” about staying away from their backyard when a gator was nearby.
It was the fourth alligator attack since 2019 in Sun City Hilton Head, a 55-plus private community with over 15,000 residents across Beaufort and Jasper counties. In August 2022, an 88-year-old Sun City resident was killed by a 9-foot gator after she reportedly slipped and fell into a pond while gardening.
A DNR spokesperson could not immediately be reached for questions Thursday morning.
Alligators across Beaufort County are emerging from their hiding spots as the species finishes brumation, a state similar to hibernation wherein reptiles become inactive to conserve energy during the winter months. The adult reptiles spring into motion in April as their mating season begins.
When alligators are active, officials encourage residents to keep dogs away from bodies of water and to exercise caution near the shoreline, even around man-made retention ponds.
A lost pet boxer was killed by an alligator in Sun City in late March, according to Beaufort County Animal Services.
This report will be updated.
This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 10:04 AM.
