In February 2023, 85-year-old Gloria Serge was walking her small dog Trooper at Spanish Lakes Fairways, a retirement community in Florida, when an 11-foot alligator lunged at the dog. Trooper escaped, but the alligator seized Serge instead and pulled her into the lake.
Her friend and neighbour Carol Thomas watched from the bank and tried desperately to help, urging Serge toward an overturned paddle boat and then striking the alligator with a metal pole, but she could not save her. During the struggle, Serge spoke her final four words: “The gator has me!”
Trooper survived unharmed, and wildlife officials later captured and killed the alligator. No official response, however, could undo what had happened on an ordinary morning walk.
Thomas has since described being haunted by the failed rescue, questioning what else she could have done, while Serge’s son spoke of an all-consuming grief at imagining his mother’s final moments. The tragedy also brought renewed warnings to keep a safe distance from alligators and never to approach or feed them.
