News

Actions

Paul Santamaria: Survivor recalls 1986 Disney alligator attack

Posted at 12:16 PM, Jun 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-16 14:32:50-04

(NECN, NBC NEWSCHANNEL) Tuesday's tragic alligator attack at Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian resort isn't the first of its kind.

Paul Santamaria of New Hampshire, a father of two, was attacked by an alligator at Walt Disney World in 1986, when he was 8-years-old.

He now has twin daughters the same age as victim Lane Graves and is horrified for the boy's family.

Santamaria says he was feeding ducks at a pond at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground with his sister and brother, when an alligator attacked him.

"It grabbed my leg and started to thrash me around side to side and then started to pull me backwards into the water," Santamaria said.

Santamaria's brother and sister helped him to get rid off the alligator.

He suffered gashes and a tooth stuck in his thigh. Scars are still seen on his leg.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1UXaoBv

Information from the Associated Press supplemented this report.