Devin Funck, 11, from Slidell was swimming with two friends at the pond called Crystal Lake on Wednesday when the alligator also known as Big Joe attacked the three children. The two girls who were with Devin managed to swim to shore but the alligator was too fast for the boy. It caught Funck’s arm and pulled him down under the water. Big Joe is ten feet long, and weighs about 500 pounds. His name was given by the locals who were pretty familiar with the animal.

Big Joe bit Devin's left arm off, all the way to the shoulder. As the little boy was being attacked, the two girls who had been swimming with Devin ran for help. Three sheriff's deputies nearby pulled the youngster out of the water and drove him to Slidell Memorial Hospital. From there, the boy was airlifted to Ochsner Medical Center.

Other authorities and deputies went to the lake to hunt Big Joe down. They hoped to find the right alligator, kill it and then retrieve the boy’s arm from his stomach. They succeeded in finding Big Joe within half an hour of the attack. But the other operations took about 2 hours and a half. They covered the boy’s arm in ice and took it to the hospital where Devin’s doctors were waiting for it. But the arm had already run out of blood and doctors could no longer surgically re-attach it.

Devin Funck is currently recovering from the operation. The operation was a success although the boy’s arm couldn’t be reattached. He’ll probably be needing a prosthesis.