Staying Afloat

Every year, Tampa celebrates Gasparilla Day to commemorate Jose Gaspar, a fictional pirate who invaded the city. Gasparilla is Tampa's version of Mardi Gras and as such, attracts a huge, unruly crowd. As Tampa prepares for this weeklong event, so does Tampa General Hospital. The region's only level-one trauma center will face a revolving door of injuries, including: a woman attacked by an alligator while swimming in a lake; a truck driver run off the road and pinned underneath his 18-wheeler; a man with a large piece of meat stuck in his throat; a local celebrity diagnosed with diabetes; a man who risks losing an eye after being hit head-on by a drunk driver; a middle-aged man who needs an immediate operation to fix a hole in his stomach; and a 20-year old woman shot in the chest.