CHARLESTON, South Carolina – Bicolana nurses celebrating the Penafrancia fiesta with “kabayans” at Short Stay Navy Outdoor Recreation Area in Naval Park here save Bill Hedden, 59, a retired US navy personnel whose arm was bitten off from its shoulder joint by a 600 lb alligator while snorkeling at Lake Moultrie Sept. 16. The arm was recovered from the 12- foot reptile’s belly, but doctors from the Medical University of South Carolina failed to re-attach the severed limb which arrived in an iced cooler. Joceline Losa-Masauding, a nurse from Nabua, Camarines Sur and current president of the Bicol Association of Charleston, and Jerome Bien said they saw the blood-soaked body of Hedden slumped on the ground. “We followed the blood trail on the grass which led to the reptile in the lake,” Bien said. The Bicolana nurses wasted no time to call 911 after they realized what happened. The victim apparently walked from the lake to the park where there were people who could help him.

We quickly got towels and applied pressure on the gaping wound to stop the bleeding, His face turned blue and we asked him to stay calm and breath deeply," said Ms. Masauding who was with fellow nurses Sally de los Reyes-Ani (Libmanan), Grace Buenavente-Osea (Tabaco), Mercy Salvatierra (Sorsogon,), Marisol Gaspe-Dalusong (Iriga), and Lilian Losa-Navarro (Nabua) who was visiting from California. They took care of Hedden until he was brought to the hospital by helicopter.

“They knew what to do,” said Berkeley County Rescuer Capt. Bill Salisbury who praised the heroic, quick-thinking Bicolana nurses. “The nurses moved very fast, abandoning the celebration’ s program,” said Fe Espano (Albay) who was there at the scene. Fr. Simon Peter Ignacio, a retired Navy chaplain was present to calm down the victim and assured him of his prayers. The Bicolana nurses and their group praised Ina, the Virgin of Penafrancia, for helping them save Hedden’s life.