'Help me, Jesus': Florida man hits alligator on I-4, flips over bike, slides across freeway
Motorcyclists strike alligator on I-4
Two bikers are recovering after striking an alligator on I-4 on Saturday.
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - Over the weekend, two motorcyclists were rushed to the hospital after striking a 6-foot alligator on Interstate 4 in Volusia County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Both are now recovering and spoke exclusively with FOX 35 News on Sunday, recounting the moments leading up to the crash.
Motorcyclists hit alligator on I-4
The backstory:
On Saturday, around 6 p.m., two motorcyclists traveling in the inside lane on I-4 westbound near mile marker 110, struck an alligator in the lane, causing one rider to crash into a tree.
Both motorcyclists—a 67-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman—were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials responded to assist the injured alligator.
Latest developments:
Cameron Gilmore told FOX 35 he and Brandi Gross were riding with a large group of bikers on the interstate, when he came across a "big blob in the road."
"I thought it was a semi-tire that came off the tread or something," Gilmore said. That "blob" he struck turned out to be a large alligator.
Gross was riding right behind him, and she hit the gator right after him. The impact of hitting the gator threw them both off their bikes.
"I said, ‘Uh, help me, Jesus’"
What they're saying:
"I just seen something, and like, once I realized what it was, it was just too late," Gross said. "I was like, 'oh crap, you know, like,' and it just, the impact happened. I flipped over, and I just wasn't expecting a gator to be in the middle of the road right there."
Video shared with FOX 35 News from Saturday evening showed the gator on the side of the road and paramedics on the scene.
"I said, ‘Uh, help me, Jesus’," Gilmore recounted. "And I, um, just kept flipping. I’m like, when is this going to stop? And then I started sliding, and I’m like, when is this gonna stop? Just sliding and sliding, and then it went off the road into the grass, and, um, couldn’t move much. My whole right leg was numb, and my other leg was numb."
Gilmore sustained a broken foot and toes from the incident. Gross suffered a concussion, and the bone on the side of her wrist was cracked.
‘I must have an angel looking over me’
"The way I landed, I must have an angel looking over me or something, cause I just got very lucky. It could have been a lot worse," Gross said.
Both have great spirits about what happened.
"They're calling me Gator Gilmore instead of Florida man. I'm getting called Florida man, too," Gilmore said.
Gross' family has a new nickname for her, too. "They call me Gator Ninja because I was on a Ninja 650," she joked.
Her run in with the gator may have her second guessing her favorite college football team, too.
"I was actually a Gators fan before this and I was telling my mom, because my family's always been divided, I said, ‘I might end up going Noles.’ I don't really care for Gators too much now," she said.
What we don't know:
The extent of the alligator's injuries was not immediately known. The crash remains under investigation.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared during interviews with motorcyclists Cameron Gilmore and Brandi Gross on June 1, 2025. Additional details regarding the crash were gathered from the Florida Highway Patrol.