Nine-year-old Sebastian Cozzan was bitten by a shark around 4 p.m. off John D. MacArthur State Park in Palm Beach, Florida.
Sebastian was surfing around 20 feet offshore near where the sandbar begins when a shark grabbed his right foot.
“The shark came up and bit me and started to pull me into the water,” he told WPBF-TV 25
Even though his foot was in the shark’s mouth, he fought back.
“I just kicked the shark inside the mouth and he just got hurt I think,” he said.
After seeing the commotion the third-grader’s parents ran into the water and carried him back to the beach.
He was taken to St. Mary’s Community Hospital, March 21, where he received 80 stitches and is expected to make a full recovery.