A 17-year-old male teen has lost part of his arm in an alligator attack. He credits his television time with shows like "Swamp People" in surviving the horrifying ordeal.

Speaking to FoxNews.com, the boy said he wants the alligator's head so he could use it as a prosthetic armrest.

Kaleb Langdale stayed focused and determined to survive when he was attacked by an alligator while swimming in Florida's Caloosahatchee River near Moore Haven.

Quick thinking in crisis

Langdale said he was able to use survival tactics he learned from watching shows like "Swamp People."

"I'm glad the alligator attacked me, because if it was any of my friends, they probably would have died," he said.

Langdale recalled his thoughts when the alligator clamped down on his arm. He heard his bones cracked like twigs. He was thinking of breaking free, but he couldn't because he was still attached to his tendon.

"Then the gator did another death roll and I kicked my way out of it," the teen said, noting that adrenaline enabled him to get to the other side of the river.

His friends called 911 as he tried to control the bleeding by squeezing what remained of his arm. The alligator got the part below the elbow.

"I kept telling myself that people die when they start hyperventilating. So I kept telling myself to breath," he said.

"Call the paramedics!"

Gary Beck, one of Langdale's friends who were also swimming at the time, recalled Langdale screaming: "Call the paramedics, my arm is gone!"

Officers said the alligator went straight for Langdale when it attacked.

Wildlife authorities managed to catch and kill the alligator that attacked Langdale. They dissected the gator to find the teen's arm. They found the arm, but it was no longer viable for reattachment.

Another alligator attack

Just last month, an alligator about 3-metres in length had chomped on the left hand of an airboat captain. The victim was giving a tour in southwest Florida when the attack happened, Herald Sun reported. The touring family on the boat said the captain had his hand at the water's surface when the alligator bit him.