Surgical Cost Help after Alligator Attack on Cooper River

On Monday afternoon, April 15, my best friend, William Georgitis, experienced the most terrifying moment of his life. He was scuba diving in the Cooper River, as he has done every week for the past 8 years when he was attacked by a 12 foot alligator. William is a seasoned and trained scuba diver who makes his living by diving for fossils and attending shows to sell them. He was trained and dove often with divemaster and Captain Alan Devier, a beloved member of the Charleston diving community who passed away a few years ago.

William was on his second dive of the day in a well-known diving spot in the community when the alligator suddenly launched from the bank as he surfaced and began chasing him. For the next 15 minutes, William struggled for his life. The massive alligator grabbed his right arm as he was trying to get into the boat with the help of his dive-mate and drug him 40 feet down to the bottom of the river. The alligator had William's entire right arm in its jaws, up to his shoulder, ultimately snapping his ulna in half and fracturing his radius. William was running out of air in his diving tank due to the sheer terrifying nature of the experience and had almost accepted this might be it. Out of sheer survival mode, William was able to grab his diving screwdriver and stab the alligator repeatedly as many times as possible with his left hand. After an exhausting struggle, the alligator let go of William's arm and he quickly surfaced. We are so grateful that his dive-mate was able to then pull him onto the boat and immediately drive him to the hospital, as he was bleeding out and his arm dislocated and broken in several positions. Ultimately, William was put into immediate multiple surgeries to ensure the best chance of saving his right arm and hand. William was in the hospital for several days getting multiple CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, and other tests to save his vasculature and nerves post-accident and surgery.

We are not in the clear yet, as William is facing multiple other surgical procedures as well as months of physical therapy and recovery. William makes his living fossil diving, so he will be out of commission for quite a while.

As many of you know in the fossiling community, dive community, and Charleston restaurant scene (William was a former chef and sous chef at several well-known Charleston staple restaurants), that William always puts others first. He is an extremely hard worker and an independent, kind person. He needs our help now. We would greatly appreciate anything anyone can help with. We thank everyone for reading this and sharing William's situation to try and reach as many people as possible.

DNR has been notified regarding this horrific incident to handle the situation appropriately. We do not want this to happen to any other divers.