On Thursday, a 16-year-old boy visiting the Outer Banks in North Carolina was attacked by a shark . According to CNN , Nick Arthur was playing on the sandbar when the shark bit his thigh and refused to let go.
Tim Arthur, the boy’s father, rushed over to his son and started to kick the shark in the nose while his son helped. Eventually, they forced it to relinquish his leg, although it did try to nip his hand before finally swimming away.
Nick was supposedly about 25 feet offshore, playing in the waves on a sandbar when the shark approached.
“At first I thought he was screaming out of joy, and then I looked at him and saw the shark,” said his father.
The moment he heard his son yelling to get the shark off of him, he sprang into action. While the father and son attempted to get the shark to let go, Nick’s sister swam back to shore.
The Arthur family went to a Nags Head hospital to get Nick’s injuries looked at. He wound up needing 17 stitches, and they counted approximately 40 teeth marks on his thigh. He also needed a few stitches in his thumb.
A photograph shared by the outlet showed Nick extending his freshly bandaged leg. His thumb was also visible with a bandage wrapped around it.
“Though bruised and sore, Arthur said his son is [in] good spirits and luckily, there seems to be no permanent damage. He said the incident hasn’t soured the family on swimming at the beach, but added they probably won’t go out as far in the future,” noted the article.
CNN indicated that the family was “near Vehicle Ramp 25” when the attack happened. They had been visiting Cape Hatteras National Seashore on a trip from their Oak Ridge, North Carolina home.
Fox 8 reported that the family was going to continue their vacation, as they still planned to stay in the area for at least a few more days.
No information was given on the type of shark that may have attacked the teenager, but social media users suspected it might have been a bull shark.
One user tweeted it was probably not a great white shark since they usually don’t “get that close to shore,” but noted that “bull sharks are typically found in warm, shallow water, so that makes the most sense.”
Last month, The Inquisitr reported that a 26-year-old surfer in Northern California was attacked by a shark and died as a result of his injuries. It seemed that the attack happened without any provocation.
