A skimboarding teen was bitten by a shark in Florida July 31.
Colton McCarty was warned by his mother to stay in the shallow waters of Jacksonville during their vacation from Hurdland, Missouri.
Beach Patrol had issued warnings of rip tides at Jax Beach and Colton’s mother, Lisa McCarty, told the children not to go any deeper than their knees.
The 15-year-old was standing up in the knee deep water as he held onto his light colored wooden skimboard around 6:30 p.m. when something grabbed his left leg.
“He said it felt like little fingers wrapping around his leg and then his leg started burning from the saltwater,” Lisa McCarty said. “He dropped his skim board and yelled for his cousins and brother to run.”
Mrs. McCarty saw the wound and knew they needed immediate medical assistance, unfortunately the members of the Beach Patrol had gone for the day.
After dialing 911, rescue personnel arrived and transported Colton to the hospital where doctors confirmed the wound was from a shark.
Colton received three large sutures to close the deep wound, as doctors did not want the stretched skin to pull out the stitches.
The family will head back home this weekend and Colton will need to see a doctor in two weeks.
This is the second bite in the area for 2017.
Keenan Perry was surfing off Hannah Park on April 14 when he was bitten on the foot by a shark.
The 17-year-olds foot was severely injured and he received 80 stitches to repair his severed Achilles tendon.
There have been a total of 63* shark attack bites in 2017, 5 of which were fatal*; 30 were reported in the US, with 21 occurring in Florida** and one in Hawaii. Nine occurred in Australia, one of which was fatal and one with no injury. Four unconfirmed worldwide and not included in the total count.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 Shark Attack Bites Tracking Map.
*Two may be scavenge. **One report may have been outside of Florida waters.
