By Martin E. Comas
Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. — It was supposed to be a relaxing day of kayaking on the Wekiva River for Krista Karlsen, her boyfriend and her family. A way to celebrate the end of their Orlando vacation.
But the peaceful trip down the river turned to horror when they saw a large alligator dart quickly across the water and attack a woman swimming in front of them. The alligator clamped its jaws on Rachael Lilienthal’s right arm and thrashed her around.
“She screamed, ‘Can you please help me?’” said Karlsen, who was in a kayak with her boyfriend, Casey Spencer. The two started paddling rapidly toward Lilienthal, followed by her parents in a second kayak.
“When we got to her, the alligator seemed very calm and had her arm in its mouth,” Karlsen said. “We started hitting it with our paddle, and I think it got mad, because then it started thrashing again.”
The alligator forced Lilienthal underwater. But then it let go and swam away as Karlsen’s parents, Jeffrey and Halie Karlsen, arrived in their kayak.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Lilienthal, 37, of Orlando had been swimming alone up the river in an isolated spot several hundred yards from a crowded beach area near Wekiva Island when the male gator attacked just after 3 p.m. Saturday.
The alligator bit off her arm just above the elbow. It was caught and euthanized early Sunday. Officials found the woman’s arm in the gator, FWC spokeswoman Karen Parker said.
Lilienthal, who was rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center, had another round of surgery Monday, a family member said. She’s doing “as good as she can be,” said her stepfather, Jerald Kruger.
“We were at the right place at the right time,” Krista Karlsen said. “We did what we had to do. She was very calm. I think if it wasn’t for her being so calm, it could have ended much worse.”
Jeffrey Karlsen said that as he approached Lilienthal in his kayak, she kept saying: “It’s my fault. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been swimming here.”
He and his wife, Halie, lifted Lilienthal out of the water, which was clouded with blood.
“She lifts up her arms, and then we realize — and she realizes — that her arm is gone,” Jeffrey Karlsen said. “She then said: ‘I can’t believe I lost my arm.’”
Krista Karlsen and her boyfriend, who were vacationing with the family from Jupiter, paddled furiously toward Wekiva Island to seek help.
Meanwhile, the older Karlsens and Josh Helwig, who was in a nearby canoe with his girlfriend, Isabella Diaz, suspended Lilienthal between both boats as they paddled toward Wekiva Island. Her legs were in the canoe, her head and body on the kayak.
They were concerned that if Lilienthal were placed in the canoe, it would tip over.
“We spent about 20 or 30 seconds straight screaming for help,” Helwig said.
Halie Karlsen, who was trained as a medical assistant, held Lilienthal’s head and kept talking to her to prevent her from losing consciousness.
“She was looking at me, and I kept saying: ‘Stay with me. Stay with me,’” Halie Karlsen said.
When they arrived at Wekiva Island, a crowd had gathered on the docks. A large, muscular man lifted Lilienthal out of the two boats, Halie Karlsen said.
Seminole deputy sheriffs, who were working as security guards at the popular resort, grabbed medical supplies from their vehicles and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Paramedics arrived moments later and rushed Lilienthal — who also had cuts on her torso — to the hospital.
On the 911 recording, released Monday, frantic screams can be heard in the background as callers try to describe the scene.
“She’s still in the water,” a caller says. “We’re trying to get her into the canoe. … She is awake, but she’s bleeding out a lot.”
In the wake of the attack, officials warned Monday that alligators lurk under almost every freshwater surface in Florida. Though the temptation to take a swim might be great on a hot summer day, they warned, you should think twice.
Alligators live in all 67 Florida counties, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials estimate more than 1.3 million of the reptiles are living in lakes, rivers, swamps and other brackish waters across the state.
Still, alligators are generally frightened of humans and will try to avoid them, said Dr. Whit Gibbons, a retired professor of ecology at the University of Georgia who specializes in reptiles. But there are exceptions, especially if someone approaches an alligator nest or baby alligators, which adult gators will fiercely defend.
“I wouldn’t go swimming in weedy areas near the shore,” Gibbons said. “If you see babies [alligators], definitely stay away from that area. But if you saw an alligator, it would be a good idea not to go swimming in that area anyway.”
Tim Williams, director of media relations for the Gatorland tourist attraction, agreed.
“This time of the year we have to very careful because mamas are protecting their nests and babies,” Williams said. “So stay away from shorelines.”
Gibbons and Williams said swimmers should avoid swimming in lakes and rivers at night or in the early morning. Also, don’t let dogs or young children stand on a shore near the water.
Alligators will sometimes mistakenly bite down on something that they think may be food such as a fish, Williams said.
But Gibbons pointed out that serious alligator attacks are rare in Florida.
In 2013, the latest data year available, FWC received reports of seven serious alligator attacks across the state. That number was up from two attacks in 2012 and four in 2011.
FWC said statistics show the majority of attacks aren’t fatal, with the last deadly incident happening in 2007.
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©2015 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)