Fight of Her Life

HILTON HEAD ISLAND WOMAN RECOUNTS ALLIGATOR ATTACK

ELLIE KYLE AND HER DOG LULU. THE HILTON HEAD RESIDENT SURVIVED AFTER BEING ATTACKED BY AN ALLIGATOR.

putting up afight

BY BECCA EDWARDS | PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN

What began as a typical morning at Hilton Head Plantation on Sept. 2 for 5-foot tall, 80 years young Ellie Kyle ended up in a fight for her life.

Kyle was walking Lulu, her chihuahua-dachshund rescue dog, which she does each morning.

“All of the sudden I look over, and an 8-foot alligator grabbed my legs and pulled me back in the water,” she said.

Kyle, who was walking beside a lagoon near Rookery Way only 50 feet from her back door, said she could hear her legs break.

Mary Montour and her husband Layne Carver have been Kyle’s neighbors for almost two years.

Mary was in her kitchen when she heard Kyle scream. She ran outside thinking Kyle may have fallen down. Instead, she found her neighbor struggling to survive.

“I see her, I thought she fell in, but as I’m pulling her, she started screaming, ‘An alligator is biting my leg off,’ ” said Montour, who grabbed Kyle’s hand and attempted to pull her to safety. “She was in extreme distress.”

Carver heard his wife’s call for help. He grabbed a shovel that was mounted on a wall in the garage and raced to the scene.

The alligator had Kyle in a death roll.

“It had her pretty good,” Carver said. “I hit the alligator as hard as I could with a shovel.”

Carver hit the alligator three times before Kyle was able to be freed. Due to the shock of the attack, Kyle does not remember much else but the feeling of pure adrenaline and thinking, “I heard you’re supposed to look for something soft, so I stuck my finger in his eye, which I think worked.”

Montour and Carver said their only focus was to save Kyle.

“We just reacted,” Montour said. “We are so grateful we were able to save her.”

Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue and local law enforcement responded to the incident at 8:19 a.m.

S.C. Department of Natural Resources removed and euthanized the alligator. The dog was not harmed.

According to Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal/PIO Joheida Fister, “Most alligator problems occur between March and July, which is the breeding season, and they are most active between dusk and dawn.”

It’s uncertain what provoked the attack, but Fister said it is important not to feed alligators.

“When fed, alligators overcome their natural wariness and learn to associate people with food, and it also alters their natural diet in an unhealthy way,” she said.

In South Carolina, it is illegal to feed alligators or entice them with food. If convicted, you may face a $200 fine and up to 30 days in prison.

Kyle said she “loves” alligators and they deserve to live in the lagoons, but she is concerned about alligators being fed.

“Once an alligator associates humans with food, they can’t tell the difference between your leg and a hot dog,” she said.

In the weeks since the attack, with the help of family members she “doesn’t know what she would do without,” Kyle is recovering from her extensive injuries.

“The orthopedic surgeon thought he might have to remove my legs but said I was an 80-year-old miracle,” she said.

During the time of her interview, Kyle, who has lived on Hilton Head Island for 28 years, was dependent on using a walker and someone needed to be near her to steady her. She is cared for by her daughter, Maria, who assists with everyday needs, including cooking meals. Kyle said, “Not sure how well I’m ever going to walk again because of the nerve damage to my right foot. I’ll probably never drive a car again if that doesn’t get better.”

The incident is also preventing her from doing the things she enjoys most like world travel, gardening and playing golf. Not one to let things get her too down, though, at the end of Kyle’s interview she put on an alligator foot necklace and said, “They call me Ellie-gator now.”

STAYING safe

HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO BE SAFE AROUND ALLIGATORS:

•• Don’t feed alligators. Providing food makes them bolder and encourages them to seek out people. •• Keep your distance. Alligators are powerful and can move with a burst of speed on land over short distances. • A safe distance from an adult alligator is about 60 feet. If an alligator hisses or lunges at you, you are too close. • • Never disturb nests or small alligators. Some female alligators protect their young and may become • • aggressive if provoked. Do not corner alligators. This can make them feel threatened, causing them to react defensively.

Source: Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia

caring FOR THE COMMUNITY

BY MARK E. LETT | PHOTOS SUPPLIED Sun, ocean beaches, golf courses and terrific weather make Hilton Head a much-celebrated island. But it’s the caring and sharing of civic-minded residents that make it a community. To recognize that spirit of volunteerism, four Hilton Head residents received the Mayor’s Islander Award. “One of my favorites things to do is recognize our local citizens for all they do to make our island community great,” said Mayor John McCann. “This is well-deserved recognition for each honoree.” The recipients for 2021 are the Rev. Louis Johnson, Dean Roberts, Kathleen Harper, and Ronald Farsetti.

REV. LOUIS JOHNSON: ‘BUILD BRIDGES AND TAKE DOWN WALLS’

The Rev. Louis Johnson commuted to his Hilton Head church from his native Savannah for 15 years before making the move to the Lowcountry.

It turned out to be a win-win decision: His affection for the island was strengthened, and Hilton Head gained a committed, community-minded force.

“I made the move to be closer to the church,” said Johnson, pastor of the historic Central Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church on Mathews Drive.

Under Johnson’s leadership and engagement, the church and the community also grew closer in the past eight years.

In honoring Johnson with an Islander Award, the town of Hilton Head pointed to his work as a co-founder of the One Island, One Community celebration.

Johnson said the annual event held on July 4 was the idea of a member of his church and a member of the Grace Community Church on Spanish Wells. Separately, the members brought the suggestion for a community coming-together to Johnson and Matthew Palmer, lead pastor at Grace.

The concept, Johnson said, is for “this beloved community to build bridges and take down walls. Everybody comes together for a celebration and a great day of fellowship.”

After several years of success, One Island, One Community was squelched in 2020 and this year to accommodate pandemic-related health and safety concerns. Johnson said he is hopeful the event will return in 2022.

For Johnson, the pandemic meant developing another way for the church to serve the community. Central Oak Grove volunteers partnered with grocery stores and others to collect and — when necessary — deliver food to more than 60 needy families.

Recipients included single, working mothers, according to Johnson. To better meet their needs, volunteers arranged for dinners and breakfasts so children’s nutritional needs were met at different key times.

In another initiative, Johnson helped organize vaccinations for COVID-19 immunization.

“The church is a refuge that reaches out to make a difference,” Johnson said.

DEAN ROBERTS: ‘WE CAN GIVE OF OUR TIME’

Around the Roberts household, volunteerism is a way of life.

Flashback to 2018, when Susan Roberts was among recipients of Hilton Head’s Islander Awards, in part for her work in education, literacy, history and as a tireless program coordinator with the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park.

“There is always something that needs attention, and Susan is the one to jump in and help with whatever is needed,” said then-Mayor David Bennett.

Fast forward to 2021. As it turns out, Susan is not the only Roberts family member ready to “jump in and help.”

Among this year’s Islander award honorees is Susan’s husband, Dean, a familiar figure as a volunteer for the Boys & Girls Club and the Juneteenth Celebration hosted by the Mitchelville Preservation Project.

A faithful member of the Hilton Head Rotary Club, his commitment was put to the test when he ascended to the organization’s presidency during the COVID-19 pandemic. His challenge: To keep the ever-active organization on task despite health restrictions and concerns. Success, Roberts says, meant summoning the flexibility and stick-toitiveness of Rotary’s community-minded members.

Time and again, he said, fellow Rotarians put service above self and came through.

“Change is inevitable,” said Roberts, who deployed Rotarians for bell-ringing and other fund-raising activities to raise money for projects such as college scholarships and shoes for needy schoolchildren.

“Volunteerism is important,” said Roberts. “We don’t all have a lot of money to give, but we can give of our time.”

Roberts retired to Hilton Head from Massachusetts after a career as a quality management consultant. He spent some 15 years as a full-time or part-time office manager at the The Bargain Box, the popular thrift shop that has returned more than $15 million to the community.

An Ohio native, Roberts said he has found it necessary this football season to set aside a few hours of personal time to savor televised games of the University of Cincinnati, whose Bearcats rank among the nation’s best.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Visit hiltonheadmonthly.com/subscriptions today to get into the spirit of the Lowcountry with the premier lifestyle magazine. KATHLEEN HARPER: ‘THE KIDS INSPIRE ME’

As a frequent visitor to Hilton Head — as a vacationer — Kathleen Harper focused on the surf, sand and sunshine.

But her focus shifted five years ago when she made the island her year-round home. With that, the native of upstate South Carolina began soaking up the island’s history, art and culture.

“I had been familiar with the island, but not the history,” she said. “It is just fascinating.”

Harper’s curiosity and appreciation for the island’s evolution has fortified her work as coordinator of the Middle Year Program at Hilton Head Island Middle School.

Front and center is her current mission to combine island art and history to produce a visual timeline in the school hallway. The ambitious effort martialed the efforts of students, island artists and a collection of local historians, leaders and residents.

The result taking shape inside the school is testament to the power of visual learning, featuring paintings and writings that trace the textured background that shapes modern-day Hilton Head. The effort includes training student docents to explain and guide visitors through the exhibit.

The effort is the most recent example of Harper’s communityoriented commitment. Previous initiatives have included an anthology of students’ poems, photography and writings about life in the age of a pandemic. The works were published and are available for sale, with proceeds benefiting Volunteers in Medicine, a charitable organization created almost three decades ago to serve the health and wellness needs of the medically underserved on Hilton Head and Daufuskie islands.

For Harper it all adds up to pride in her school and her community.

Among the goals, she said, is to inspire “pride and buy-in” among “our amazing” students.

“The kids inspire me,” she said. “They have serious concerns and serious dreams. They are capable of changing the world and we hope they feel that responsibility.”

RONALD FARSETTI: ‘THE NEED IS SO GREAT’

Caring for a loved one can be stressful and wearying.

Ronald Farsetti sees it differently. As the caregiver for his wheelchair-bound wife, Farsetti has been energized and motivated.

“What inspires me has always been my dear wife, Dr. Sharon B. Webster,” said Farsetti, an Army veteran and a retired construction superintendent. “In one way or another, being a caregiver for the past seven years has enhanced my sense of responsibility to help others, when I am able.” Farsetti’s commitment to community service has included a leadership role with the Rotary Club of Hilton Head, building and designing reading chairs for The Children’s Center and organizing an auction that raised $30,000 for the Deep Well Project and its program to help Hilton Head’s neighbors in need. In the nerve-wracking, early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Farsetti systematized and organized an initiative to help residents sign up for vaccines at multiple locations. With Sharon’s encouragement and engagement, he also helped with recovery tasks in the wake of Hurricane Matthew in 2016. This year, Farsetti was at the heart of a convoy that delivered tens of thousands of dollars of supplies — from mini-refrigerators and children’s books to cleaning supplies and Pampers — to hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. “The need is so great there,” said Farsetti. “You could see and feel the excitement in the air for the people that we would be helping.” Sharon — who holds three undergraduate degrees and a Ph.D. in international relations — often joins with Farsetti in planning and executing community work. But when they break free for time together, the couple enjoys a night out on the dance floor, with Farsetti navigating the wheelchair. “Her knowledge, patience, kindness and empathy are infectious,” said Farsetti. “Her love inspires me to be a better person today than I was yesterday.”