‘Hand is gone’: Horror moment man loses hand on golf course

A man had his hand chewed off by a “monster” that lunged at him from a golf course pond over the weekend.

A Florida fisherman had his hand chewed off by a monster alligator that lunged at him from a golf course pond over the weekend, wildlife officials said.

The victim was reeling in a fish in the pond in Leesburg on Monday morning (AET) when the 9-foot, 3-inch gator pounced as golfers and other locals looked on in horror, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

“While the guy was on the ground … the gator got the guy in the hand, and the two rolled,” shaken witness Ron Priest told Fox 35.

The reptile chewed off the angler’s hand, then ditched the badly bleeding man and his catch and retreated back into the water, the New York Post reports.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shot the gator they said was about nine feet long. Photo: FOX 35 Orlando.

At least two people who saw the animal attack or its grisly aftermath called 911 for help.

One of the callers told a dispatcher that the fisherman had been walking around with blood on his hands, “moaning and groaning constantly.”

“There is a gator attacking a man in my backyard!” a caller shouted into the phone, according to the outlet.

The fisherman ended up losing his hand to the gator on Monday (AEDT). Photo: FOX 35 via Ron Priest.

“Some people now have stopped in their golf carts!”

When another caller phoned in, the dispatcher said, “Is this regarding a gator attack?”

The witness replied, “Yes, he took his hand off.”

The emergency operator responded, “Oh no, OK.”

The gator bite victim was airlifted to a hospital in Orlando. Photo: Sandy Williams, Ron Priest, Provided to FOX 35 Orlando.

The panicked caller added, “Hand is gone!”

A medical helicopter arrived minutes later and airlifted that injured fisherman to a hospital in Orlando. There was no immediate word on his condition.

The male alligator was trapped and removed from the pond, the Conservation Commission said.

— This story originally appeared on nypost.com and has been republished with permission

Originally published as ‘Hand is gone’: Horror moment man loses hand on golf course