A teenager was bitten by a shark off Amelia Island, Florida.
Jackie Jozaitis,16, was boogieboarding off the beach, around 7:30 a.m. July 12, near Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, when she was bitten on the ankle and foot by a shark.
Local law enforcement described the vacationing teen’s wounds as serious.
Amelia Island is on Atlantic side of Florida which has rough dark water.
Last year there were two shark bites reported a few minutes apart near the island.
Dustin Theobald, 30, was off Fernandina Beach with his son Emerson around 3:30 p.m. July 16.
The duo was in about 2 feet of water as Theobald pushed Emerson on a small board and watched him ride into the beach.
“I was just lying there [on his stomach] watching him paddle back out and I felt something grab onto my foot,” he told Tracking Sharks.
“At first, all I felt was pressure; I didn’t feel any real pain. I just felt something grab me.
“I reached back and put my hand down where my foot was, and I palmed his [the shark’s] head. I put my hand over where his eyes are, and he shook twice, once left then right.
“After my hand hit his head, he let go and I instantly knew it was over right then,” he said.
He warned other beachgoers to get out of the water and notified a lifeguard who began administering first aid.
“The bottom of my foot has a clean laceration. The top of the foot, you could tell it was like serrated teeth. They shredded the top, hit a couple of tendons at least the top of them. I don’t think it broke through any of the tendons, from what I could tell, but it definitely did a lot of damage to them. I was definitely fortunate.
“The EMT who measured the wound said it was 4 inches on the top and 4 inches on the bottom. It had my whole foot in its mouth. Well half of my foot in its mouth,” according to Theobald, who is a handyman.
He was taken to the local hospital and then transferred to Jacksonville for further treatment.
Family members set up a (warning graphic Image) GoFundMe to help with medical bills.
During his medical transport, while in the ambulance, he heard radio reports of another shark bite that had just occurred down the beach.
An unidentified 17-year-old was bitten on the foot by a shark. The beach was then closed for the remainder of the day.
As of July 11, 2019, there have been a total of 45 shark attack bites (42 with injury, 11 of which are considered provoked*) publicly reported and verified in 2019. Five fatal**
All locations have been marked on the 2019 Shark Attack Map.
22 were reported in the U.S. (including one fatal), with 9 occurring in Florida (3 provoked) 7 in Hawaii (2 no injury, 1 provoked,1 fatal) and 2 in California (1 no injury). Nine have been reported in Australia, zero fatal. Four unconfirmed bites, worldwide, not included in the total count.
