Matt Graves lived through every parent’s worst nightmare on June 14th. After his two-year-old son, Lane was dragged into a lake by an alligator, Matt had to tell authorities what happened.
Officials have released a new report with Matt’s account, in which the father-of-two tried to reach into the alligator’s mouth and “grab its teeth” when it snatched his son, according to Time.
The family was watching a movie on the beach at the Grand Floridian resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando at around 8:30 p.m. that night. Lane was making sand castles by the park’s Seven Seas Lagoon, a man-made lake filled with wildlife.
As Lane, who reports confirm was 37 inches tall and weighed about 30 pounds, was filling a bucket of water for the sand castle, the alligator bit his head and dragged him into the water.
“I saw it come out to get him,” Matt told authorities, adding that he put his hands in the gator’s mouth in an attempt to rescue Lane, but the eight-foot animal only struggled briefly before going under water.
The alligator, according to Matt, “just took off.”
First responders and divers searched for Lane until an officer found his body under 6-7 feet of water, about 10 to 15 feet from where he was taken.
Authorities capture six alligators in the lake, one of which they believe is responsible for Lane’s death. They also noted that two of the alligators had empty stomachs, which would indicate that their “drive for food would be strong.”
The Orange County Medical Examiner’s officer determined death an accident, noting that Lane suffered injuries to “neck, scalp and skull.”
Disney had “No Swimming” signs on resort beaches prior to the accident. However, there were no warnings of alligators and snakes, since lounge chairs were available for guests to sit on. Since June 14th, Disney has updated their signs to include the dangerous wildlife in the lakes.
