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Florida man attacked by alligator will keep gator head as a trophy

Scott Lahodik 

RELATED: Former Jacksonville man bitten by alligator in southwest Florida 

The longtime Jacksonville resident who was nearly killed by an alligator while diving for golf balls will be keeping the gator’s head.

Scott Lahodik used to make his living diving for golf balls in ponds all over Florida — but was attacked by an alligator on July 7.

The alligator bit him severely on the arm at a golf course in Charlotte County. The alligator put Lahodik into what the diver called a “death roll,” but he fought him off and was able to summon help.

Lahodik needed 400 stitches and staples and faces months of rehab, but he’s retained his sense of humor.

"My dad really wanted to keep it because he wanted something to show the gator he fought off," his daughter Kaelin told WINK in Ft. Myers. "He wanted a trophy, so we called the trapper that caught the gator.

"He said would donate it to our family so that my dad could have it. "I call him "Gator bait" now, and he laughs every time."