Teenager underwent surgery and must remain hospitalized due to the bite reproduction
Published 05/06/2024 14:56 | Updated 05/06/2024 14:58
Rio – A teenager was bitten by an alligator when he entered a ditch to catch a kite in Cidade de Deus, West Zone of Rio, last Saturday (4). Alerrandro Gomes da Silva, 12 years old, was rescued by his own brother who entered the water to rescue him, after other children scared the animal away with stones.
According to Alerrandro’s mother, Thiciane Karem da Silva, he and other children entered the swamp without noticing the animal’s presence. “He and his friends were going to do a project, but they decided to stop by his grandmother’s house. On the way out, they saw this kite fall into the marsh, so he went in. On the way out, he felt the bite”, said his mother.
Still according to the mother, the alligator bit the teenager’s leg, who screamed for help: “His older brother heard it and entered the marsh. He was pulling on one side and the alligator was pulling on the other. How could she not she let go, the children started throwing rocks and then she let go”, he recalls.
Thichiane says that the teenager’s grandmother heard the screaming and called her. Then, she and her neighbors mobilized to take Alerrandro to the Cidade de Deus Emergency Care Unit (UPA), where he received first aid. The teenager was subsequently transferred to Lourenço Jorge Municipal Hospital.
“He went to the Trauma Center and then had surgery, because the cut was very large. (…) He is being very well looked after and attended to, thank God. He is being well looked after, he is stable, but the wound he got infected, so he is not expected to be discharged yet. He will be monitored and taking antibiotics”, says the mother.
The CDD resident also said that she had always lived there and had never heard of any attack. “Children know there are alligators there, they’re just kids, right? A line and a kite come, they get excited and go up, even though they know there are alligators there”, she comments.
