CNN 2012-07-19

 not the how I spent my summer vacation story anybody would choose if they had a choice, but 17-year-old Kaleb Langdale didn't. The alligator¹ that almost killed him four days ago wasn't asking for any opinions. The Florida teenager lost the lower half of his right arm, but survived the attack, thanks to his own quick thinking.

 

Authorities later caught and killed the alligator. They were able to retrieve² Kaleb's arm, but by then it was too late to reattach it. This isn't how Kaleb planned on starting his senior year of high school in the fall. But considering what happened in the terrifying moments underwater, it's remarkable³ that he's even alive. We had a chance to speak earlier.

 

So, Fred, it's been a week, pretty amazing week for you. How you're feeling right now? How you doing?

 

I’m pretty good. 

 

Yeah, yeah. Are you in a lot of pain? What kind of things have you been doing to try to deal with now what's a massive⁴ loss, your arm?

 

Just texting people. That's all I can do in this hospital bed.

 

Yes, you're kind of stuck in bed for a little bit. What have doctors told you about your prognosis?

 

They said I should be able to go home in the next week or two. And whenever they first brought me in, that my arm was pretty clean, and whenever they went to clean it again, there wasn't that much to clean. So all they had to do is close it up.

 

I know you told a bunch of people this story a bunch of times, but it's just crazy. I want you to walk me through one more time what happened. I know you were racing⁵, swimming across the river with your friends.

 

Yes, ma'am. I was about maybe 30 feet away from the side of the bank. Abraham started yelling⁶ "gator." I was like, really, you're going to fool me like that? I looked and lo and behold⁷ there's a gator there.

 

So I stopped and tried to get eye level with the water. I was hoping that maybe he would lose track of me, but he just kept on coming at me full playing. And whenever he got about a foot away from me, I grabbed⁸ the bottom skin, or the, yes, the bottom skin under his jaw⁹ trying to lead him away, but it didn't work. So I wrapped my legs around him and he dove¹⁰. And I had him pretty good until he death rolled and knock me off. So I kicked off with my feet trying to make a break for the bank. I was trying to swim. And I threw my right arm on back trying to come back again, trying to catch another thing of water. That's when he got my arm and I got a breath of air. And he dragged me back down. He done a death roll and broke all the bones in my arm. So then I took my feet. And put it on his mouth to try and break my arm off because I knew it's either going to be the arm or my life. So I was like, forget the arm. So, as he … 

 

My gosh, so the death roll is when they start doing that sort of spin and you know that that's when they're, the gator's trying to take you under? That's really where they kill their prey¹¹?

 

Yes, ma'am, that's when they normally drown them.

 

So you decided¹² if it was between your life and your arm, you were going to give up your arm and not your life?

 

Yes, ma'am.

 

You were able to make it to shore. What happened then?

 

I started climbing up the bank and fell into some cacti¹³. And I still got them in my legs, I think I’ll get them all out. And I was coming up. There was a tree that had a whole bunch of spider webs on it. So I grabbed the spider webs and tried to put them on my arm. Because whenever I was in the wood, my mom and dad were like, if you ever get a bad cut, put spider webs on it to stop bleeding and … So I grabbed that and put it on my arm and I sat down by the road. I put my arm between my legs and squeezed to keep pressure on it to stop the blood and it worked.

 

OK, Kaleb, it's so great to hear you sounding so well and hearing that you're going to get out of the hospital pretty soon.

 

That's an amazing story. I know you've told it to lots of folks, but it is just an incredible¹⁴ story. Thank you for being with us this evening. We certainly appreciate it.

 

All right, anytime.

1 alligator   

n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)

参考例句：

• She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。

2 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

5 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

6 yelling   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The coach stood on the sidelines yelling instructions to the players. 教练站在场外，大声指挥运动员。
• He let off steam by yelling at a clerk. 他对一个职员大喊大叫，借以发泄怒气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

8 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

9 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

10 dove   

n.鸽，温和派人物，“鸽派”人物

参考例句：

• A dove is often used as a symbol of peace.鸽常作为和平的象征。
• Paul seemed more impressed by the dove.保尔似乎对鸽子更感兴趣。

11 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 cacti   

n.（复）仙人掌

参考例句：

• There we could see nothing but cacti.那里除了仙人掌我们什么也看不到。
• Cacti can survive the lack of rainfall in the desert.仙人掌在降水稀少的沙漠中也能生存下去。

14 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。