Florida Dad Rescues Son From The Mouth Of An Alligator, Earns Super Dad Title For Life

I’m always amazed when I hear stories of people who gain super human strength when faced with a life threatening situation. Like mothers who are able to smash open washing machines to save their child. Or even remain upside for over two months to save their preemies. While I hope to never be in a situation where I need to have super human strength, I would like to know if I’d be able to — oh I don’t know – wrestle an alligator to save my hypothetical child if I had to.

Joe Welch of Pompano Beach, Florida knows all too well that when push comes to shove — he can out box a gator. Joe and his 6-year-old son Joey were having a nice day just canoeing around in the Florida Everglades when Joey fell out of the canoe into the shallow water and into the mouth of an eight-foot long alligator. After hearing screams from his son, Joe jumped into the water and used his best boxing moves to punch the head of the reptiles. A good Samaritan also joined the fight by kicking the beast who eventually thought better of his choice to snack on a 6-year-old boy and released him.

Luckily for Joey, his only injuries were some scrapes and bruises. Hopefully the only memory that will remain will be his superhero Dad saving the day. As of right now, the only lasting effect of the attack seems to be that Joey doesn’t want to go back to the Everglades. I don’t blame you, kid.

(photo: Raymond B. Summers / Shutterstock)