MIAMI, FL — A stubborn 35-year-old alligator named “Spike” locked its jaws around a Miccosukee Indian Village animal handler on Monday and refused to let go for 10 minutes. First responders reported Monday’s incident as a possible alligator bite. The victim was later identified by news organizations as John Kyle Osceola, who displayed a dozen puncture wounds on his hands to TV cameras.

Erika Benitez of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told Patch that the incident happened around 1:30 p.m. at SW 8th Street and Krome Avenue.

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“One person was transported by ground to a nearby hospital. It was not a trauma alert,” Benitez said.

Local 10 News caught up with Osceola as he was leaving Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for his wounds and released.

“It was definitely surreal, felt like a million years to be honest,” Osceola told Local 10. “Nobody really tells you what to think or what to do.”

He told the television news crew that he struggled to maintain his composure as about 15 people in the audience looked on until someone used a pole to get the gator to release its hold.

Osceola posted a photo of his hand inside an alligator’s mouth on May 30. The caption in his Instagram account read: “Did my first hand trick during a MAPA photo shoot. I’m actually screaming on the inside at this point.”

Photo via Shutterstock

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