A man was bitten by a shark in Avon, North Carolina.
Patrick Thornton,47, was playing with his son and two other family members around a half mile south of the Avon Pier June 26.
Around 11:40 a.m. a shark grabbed Patrick’s leg.
“I felt a tug at my foot,” he told Good Morning America “It took a pretty big chunk out of my right leg, so I started punching the shark.”
Two of the young family members exited the water, but his son was frozen in fear.
“I ran over and grabbed Jack[his son], and as I was bringing him to shore the shark came over again and bit me in the back,” he said. “And this time, he bit me really, really hard.”
Thornton punched the 4- to 5-foot long shark using both hands and finally knocked it off. He picked up his son and the duo exited the knee to waist-deep water.
He was transported to the hospital for treatment of the multiple puncture wounds and should make a full recovery.
North Carolina has been experiencing a high number of serious shark related incidents this year.
On June 14 teens Hunter Treschl and Kiersten Yow both lost arms to shark attacks that occurred on the same stretch of beach only hours apart.
Two further bites included an eight year old boy and a boogie boarder who both had injuries on their feet from sharks.
The location has been marked on the 2015 Shark Attack Map.
