Eddie Rodriguez was in shoulder high water in North Miami Beach May 30, when he was bitten by what he believed to be a juvenile lemon shark.
The 48-year-old was swimming around 4 p.m. with his son, who is a certified life guard from Massachusetts.
The shark grabbed Rodriguez on his upper back and attempted to pull him underwater.
Rodriguez was able to swing the shark back and forth and punch it in between swings until it let go.
After leaving the water, his son (also named Eddie), used his life guard training to administer first aid and document the wound.
Luckily the shark only left teeth marks in Mr. Rodriguez back and did not tear the skin.
Even though the resident of Bay Harbor Islands only lives three blocks from the beach, he hasn’t made it back since the incident occurred.
However, he does talk about it every day, saying, “I will eventually go back to the beach though – I love it.”
When asked if he has reservations about getting back in the ocean he said, “I guess I have to go back to the beach to see how I will react to going into the water. As for the Sharks, we must remember, we are in their habitat.”
This is the thirty-second shark bite attack of 2015, six of which were fatal and two of which were out of water (normally fisherman bitten by their catch).*
All the locations are marked on the 2015 shark attack bites tracking map.
*The information is based on reported shark bites attacks TS is aware of. It is possible the number could be higher as the incidents are not reported or have been slow to reach the US.
