CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — Felicitie Gillette, 24, said she knows how fortunate she is to have escaped the jaws of the 6'8" alligator the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission believes is responsible for attacking her early Wednesday morning.

  • Gillette homeless, went for a swim to clean up
  • Gator clamped down on her arm as she was getting out of water
  • Gator has since been removed from lake

“I’m lucky. It could’ve been worse. I could’ve been dead. I could be armless," Gillette, 24, said Thursday.

According to FWC, Gillette was swimming in Lake Hernando at Hernando Beach and Community Park around 1:00 Wednesday morning when she was bitten. Gillette is homeless and said she went for a swim to clean up.

“I swam in the water before. I feel stupid about it now. Won’t do it again," she said.

Gillette said she was getting out of the water in the park's designated swimming area when she felt the gator coming toward her.

“It was like, when his mouth opened, it was just this gush of — it was a different type of feeling," Gillette explained. "You knew something was there.”

No sooner did she look down than the gator clamped down on her arm.

“He wasn’t strong enough to pull me all the way under, but he was strong enough to yank me down. That’s when I got scared," Gillette said. “When I went to break off of him, he broke off of me, and I didn’t have to do anything. I ran out of the water."

Gillette flagged down a car and asked them to call 911. While her arm hurts, she said she's expected to make a full recovery. Day Star Life Center is helping to provide her with antibiotics and other medical supplies.

The gator bite is just the latest setback in what Gillette said has been a challenging year. She said she's been homeless for the past 12 months, living in the woods or wherever she could find shelter.

“It gets hard, but we tend to fight through it, figure out a way to make it day-to-day," she said.

The homeless coalition is working to find her housing, but Gillette said she's also in need of work. She said up next for her is healing her physical wounds, along with getting back on her feet. 

There's a piece of advice she has for swimmers that she says she plans to follow herself.

“Just make sure that you keep an eye out, because you never know what’s going to happen," she said.