Well, this South Carolina woman has definitely won Wife of the Year after defending her husband from an alligator. She's definitely a hero in our books and helped to answer one of those hypotheticals every couple has.
You know the ones. "Honey, would you save me from an alligator? Would you fight a bear for me? Honey, if I got turned into a worm, would you still love me?" For what it's worth, my wife said that she wouldn't fight an alligator for me. If it comes to a gator then I'm on my own. So this woman already has a leg up in that regard.
The husband and wife were at a living community in Sun City, Hilton Head, S.C. for 55 years and older. That's when a rogue gator upset the everyday lives of Joe and Marian Roeser. Both were in their garden. That's when the reptile attacked Joe. His back had been to a nearby pond when the gator emerged. But Marian refused to let her husband become alligator chum.
Alligator Chum?
She grabbed a tomato stake and fought back the gator, according to WTOC 11.
"His wife is a hero," said Lt. Danny Allen, Beaufort County Sheriff's Office. Authorities believe that the woman's husband owes his life to his wife. Fortunately, they managed to airlift Joe to a nearby hospital. He had leg wounds and also scrapes against his head from falling.
"I just grabbed the closest thing I could find - a tomato stake - and started attacking the alligator's eyes and head," Marian said, according to a report from the sheriff's office per ABC 4. "I knew I had to do whatever it took to save my husband."
"The alligator was captured and put down because of this attack," said Allen. "But generally what we want folks to know, April and May is peak time for breeding and movement with alligators."
Authorities urge others fight back if attacked by the reptile.
"Fight for your life, hit for the eye area and honestly hit wherever you can and definitely if you see some that is in need, please, someone needs to be calling 911 to get us there as soon as possible," said Allen.
