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Melbourne Woman Recovering After Alligator Attack

File photo of Florida alligator from Wikimedia Commons
File photo of Florida alligator from Wikimedia Commons

A 26-year-old Florida woman is recovering after being attacked by an alligator while wading in a pond.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say Nichole A. Tillman of Melbourne was airlifted to a hospital for treatment of her injuries, which weren't thought to be life-threatening.

Florida Today reports trapper Frank Robb was contracted by the wildlife agency to remove the eight-foot gator from the pond.

The incident happened at Fay Lake Wilderness Park in Port St. John. Paramedics quickly responded to the scene and treated Tillman.

Wildlife agency spokesman Chad Weber warns people to look for alligators in or near any body of water. He says gators are more active during the spring and summer.

Nicole came to Central Florida to attend Rollins College and started working for Orlando’s ABC News Radio affiliate shortly after graduation. She joined Central Florida Public Media in 2010. As a field reporter, news anchor and radio show host in the City Beautiful, she has covered everything from local arts to national elections, from extraordinary hurricanes to historic space flights, from the people and procedures of Florida’s justice system to the changing face of the state’s economy.