Florida Woman Taken To Hospital With Shark Attached To Arm
One 23-year-old Florida woman was escorted Sunday afternoon to the hospital---with a shark on her arm!
According to the Boca Raton Fire Rescue, a nurse shark bit her arm and refused to let go.
"I have never seen anything like it. Never even heard of anything like this," Ocean Rescue Capt. Clint Tracy, who saw the woman and the shark as they were transferred to an ambulance at Red Reef Park, said.
The woman remained calm, as only a bit of blood was spilt. She was taken in an ambulance stretcher with a split supporting her hand, he said.
The Boca Raton Fire Rescue took her to the Boca Regional Hospital, where she is reported to be in stable condition, according to spokesman Robert Lemons.
Before the emergency responders came on the scene, the shark died "but was still attached to her arm," Lemons said. Tracy appreciated the lifeguard who helped her. He explained: "The guard responded calmly, called for backup, and the lieutenant called fire rescue."
Beachgoer witnesses clarified that the woman as well as her friends making the shark hostile. Said Nate Patcher, 11, that when he and his cousin were snorkelling, they saw the group "holding the shark by its tail. They were messing with it."
"Sharks are like the most humane thing ever," Patcher said. "So it wouldn't bite them if they hadn't been messing with it."
Nurse sharks are found commonly on offshore Florida and have strong jaws and thousands of tiny teeth.
"Knowingly or not, people swim near nurse sharks every day without incident," according to the National Park Service. "Attacks on humans are rare, but not unknown, and a clamping bite typically results from a diver or fisherman antagonizing the shark with hook, spear, net or hand."
"The bite reflex is such that it may be some minutes before a quietly re-immersed nurse shark will relax and release its tormentor," they added. "The small teeth seldom penetrate deeply but are razor sharp."
The NPS said that leaving sharks alone "is the best tactic."
