WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The survivor of an alligator attack talked about the ordeal during a media conference Tuesday.
James Boyce suffered a bite to his leg after being attacked at a Florida wildlife reserve last weekend.
Authorities called the bite "substantial."
"I planned on dying," he said. "I made my peace with everybody."
Boyce was out deer hunting with his family, like he does every year.
He turned to walk around a curb when out of nowhere, a gator on dry land, likely 10 feet long, grabbed his leg and started to drag him away.
The two struggle and just as Boyce was about to shoot toward his leg, the gator let go and ran off.
He called his wife over and started to make his own tourniquet until help arrived.
Boyce was joined Tuesday by his family and the surgeon who treated him at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.