Florida man still adjusting to life after losing arm in alligator attack

CHARLOTTA A Florida man who lost his arm in an alligator attack last year said he is trying to adjust to a new lifestyle.

Jordan Rivera said he remembers being near a pond outside a bar in Port Charlotte. Then he woke up in the hospital.

“It was like a flash. And then I was in the hospital,” he said.

Witnesses called for help after they saw Rivera being attacked by a 10-foot alligator, which was later captured by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation.

“To wake up and they tell me I have no arm and that an alligator got me. I was like, an alligator? The last thing I would have thought about in the world,” Rivera said.

Rivera didn’t let the traumatic event stop him from going about his daily activities.

“I do pretty much the same thing most people do, but maybe in a different way,” Rivera said.

Rivera uses a special handlebar with a grip that makes tasks such as putting on a seat belt possible in less than a minute.

“I realize I have one hand. But that doesn’t let me down. I don’t let anything stop me. I wake up and that’s a new step for me,” Rivera said.