VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A motorcycle crash with an alligator sounds like something out of a movie, but it really happened in Central Florida, News4JAX’s sister station WKMG reported.
One of the victims, Cameron Gilmore, spoke to News 6 from his hospital bed about the terrifying experience, and WKMG obtained video before and after the collision (Watch Here).
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Video shows the moment when Gilmore’s motorcycle and another rider hit the alligator on Interstate 4 (I-4) in Volusia County. The crash occurred on Saturday, just outside of Orange City. A group of motorcyclists was riding together when two of them collided with the reptile.
While one rider has already left the hospital, Gilmore faces a longer recovery.
“I’m blessed, I was protected,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore suffered serious road rash and a few broken bones in his foot, but he considers himself lucky.
“I just remember one of my friends swerving, and I’m looking at him swerving, and the gator’s like 10 feet in front of me,” he recalled.
In the video, the alligator can be seen lying in the middle of the I-4 lanes as the group of friends on motorcycles rides past, heading toward Sanford. At first, Gilmore thought the object in the road was a blown tire from a semi-truck.
“One friend said he looked in his mirror, and when he passed the gator, he saw me hit it, go up in the air, and flip over the handlebars. I hit head first and rolled,” Gilmore explained.
He also crashed into a tree.
“They wouldn’t let me up to look, and they wouldn’t let me see the young lady who had wrecked behind me,” Gilmore said. “They said, ‘You hit an alligator,’ and I was like, ‘What!’”
The woman who also hit the alligator has since returned home with minor injuries. Gilmore credits his survival to wearing the right gear.
“I had motorcycle pants, a jacket, a really good helmet, and gloves and boots,” he said.
As for the alligator, it did sustain some injuries. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called to the scene and trapped the gator.