Florida Man in Psych Crisis Loses Part of Arm to Gator

May 12--An alligator bit off most of a Lakeland man's forearm as he swam across a lake Wednesday evening, police said.

Jesse Kinsinger, 21, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of a home invasion in Plant City four years ago, his mother said. He was shot twice, and still struggles with it.

"Jesse is the rock and the protector of the family. That's why he took the bullets" during the home invasion, said his mother, Rena Kinsinger. "That's why he's always holding the family together. And now everything's falling apart."

Kinsinger is on psychiatric medication and usually does not drink alcohol, she said. But on Wednesday, he drank and had an episode.

He ran into the woods behind Long Lake Circle apartment complex where he lives.

"He didn't even recognize me as his mother when he was trying to run away," Rena Kinsinger said.

Rena Kinsinger called 911 at about 8:30 p.m. and asked Lakeland police to detain her son under Florida's Baker Act so he could get psychological treatment.

Lakeland police officers and Polk County deputies started searching for Kinsinger with a bloodhound and a helicopter, police spokesman Sgt. Gary Gross said.

Kinsinger called his mother from his cellphone about 45 minutes later. He was incoherent, and said he was at a dealership near Combee Road, Gross said.

Kinsinger thought police were trying to arrest him, his mother said. He got scared.

He ran back to a lake behind his apartment complex and started swimming across it, back toward his home.

As he swam, an alligator grabbed Kinsinger's arm and attacked, Rena Kinsinger said.

He struggled as the alligator pulled him underwater, and only got away when the alligator snapped off most of his left forearm.

Just before 10 p.m., Kinsinger's sister heard screaming coming from the lake outside their apartment complex, Rena Kinsinger said. Her husband ran out and found Kinsinger on the ground near the lake, bleeding.

About three-quarters of his left forearm were gone.

Kinsinger's brother-in-law took his shirt off and used it as a tourniquet, tying it around Kinsinger's left elbow.

Kinsinger was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Center and is being treated under the Baker Act.

He has undergone two surgeries, and doctors amputated his arm at the elbow.

"He's still worried that his fingers are hurting so bad," Rena Kinsinger said. "I think he's in shock, I think he doesn't realize what happened yet. Because he's having phantom pain for fingers that are not there."

He is not facing criminal charges, Gross said. Lakeland police do not have a history with him.

The lake he swam across had a sign on its banks saying alligators frequent the area. But the area was also pitch-black, Rena Kinsinger said.

"I don't know how Jesse survived, except for a miracle, and God was looking out for him and it was divine intervention," Rena Kinsinger said.

The family has set up a fundraising account at https://www.gofundme.com/23ygp9cs.

This was the second gator bite in Central Florida within a week.

On Saturday, an alligator bit the thumb of a Lake County man who thought the animal was dead.

Bryan Rohm, 41, was on a boat with his son, hunting alligators. Rohm had the proper hunting permit to do so.

They shot an alligator twice. The alligator bit Rohm as he tried to get it onto the boat, Lake County sheriff's officials said.

Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said he did not have more information about the Lakeland case Thursday afternoon.

He cautioned people against swimming in lakes or anywhere else where alligators may be present, especially during warmer months when the reptiles are more active.

"Swimming at night is not recommended, since splashing and whatnot can attract alligators," he said. "... In general, people need to avoid contact with alligators."

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