13-Year-Old Boy Attacked By Shark In Florida, Suffers Huge Gash In Leg
A young 13-year-old boy was attacked by a shark in Florida, but luckily, he is alive and well. A lot of people are out on this Memorial Day weekend enjoying the water, and a shark attack is going to make a few people think twice about heading out into the ocean. People shared the details about this shark attack and how the boy is doing now.
Possible #shark attack reported off of Corona del Mar State Beach. https://t.co/Oq3Ei14Ta5 pic.twitter.com/qIUs891kfM
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) May 30, 2016
Neptune Beach Police Department shared that the young boy was attacked by a shark, and other swimmers helped pull him out of the water. The boy was bitten on the leg, and police said that his shark bite looked like it was from a shark that was about 5 to 6 feet in size. The boy was taken to the hospital after this shark attack and is in stable condition at this time. A witness shared the details about the shark attack.
“Someone [was] saying, ‘Oh, my God, he got bit.’ All you see is just blood dripping and dripping out for about 50 feet and he had a huge gash in his lower leg.”
This shark attack happened at Neptune Beach, east of Jacksonville. It is pretty shocking that this all happened just one week after an 11-year-old girl was bitten by a shark in Jacksonville. It’s the third attack this month on the First Coast. Shark expert Larry Cahoon shared his thoughts.
“You have a higher chance of getting into a car accident driving to the beach than you do getting attacked by a shark when you get there. The fact is that sharks have millions of contact hours with humans on beaches every year, yet attacks are really rare. Just be smart.”
Cahoon went on to share that if you are bitten by a shark, then you don’t want to punch it in the nose like you may have heard. He had other advice if you are in a shark attack.
“A 10-foot bull shark will weigh close to 500 pounds and is essentially all muscle. What chance would anyone have? You won’t be thinking rationally even if you have the opportunity to punch it, so just focus on getting back to land. Swim to shore as fast as you can – shark that means to eat you will keep coming. Basically, don’t swim alone in shark waters.”
He also went on to explain that if you are bleeding, then you are considered dinner to a shark and you need to get out of the water. He also said that if they can hear a fish struggling on a fishing line, then they will want to eat, so this is a time that you do not want to get in the water because the sharks will be looking for food.
#BREAKING: Stretch of Corona del Mar State Beach evacuated after female injured in possible shark attack: officials https://t.co/OHA9q9R6l3
— KTLA (@KTLA) May 30, 2016
ABC 7 shared that because of another shark attack, part of Neptune Beach is shut down in California. On Sunday, a woman was attacked by a shark in this area. They have not been able to find a shark in the area, but the woman had wounds to her shoulder and upper torso which officials believed were consistent with shark bites. They are treating it like a shark bite, but nobody was ever able to find a shark in the area, and no witnesses saw the woman get bit by a shark. They were still looking for a shark in the area and have part of the area blocked off so that nobody can swim in this area.
Are you shocked to hear about this 13-year-old boy being attacked by a shark? Does it make you think twice about going in the water? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]
