Two Florida watergoers were bitten by sharks on the same day.
Logan Radd, 13, was surfing off Satellite Beach Sept. 24.
He was heading to shore around 4:30 p.m. when a shark grabbed his left foot.
“I was coming in and he bit my foot and then he bit it again. It was probably a two-foot shark,” Logan told Click Orlando.
Jennifer Radd saw her son jerk his foot out of the water and mouth of a black-tipped shark.
Once he was back on the beach the two gaping wounds were assessed and Radd took her son to Holmes Regional Medical Center for treatment.
“He just told me, ‘Mommy, don’t cry,” Radd said. “He was so brave, just telling me he was going to be okay. The bites looked pretty gnarly, and got him 19 stitches. He wasn’t in pain until about 2:30 a.m. It’s just the worst thing a mother could go through.”
Logan won’t let the incident slow him down and plans on going back once doctors approve.
“I’m going back in as soon as I get the stitches out,” he said. “Sharks are out there. I guess it was just my time to get bit. It’s all a part of the water.”
About 30 minutes later and 160 miles to the north, another person was bitten by a shark.
The unidentified man was swimming around 5 p.m. off Huguenot Park in Jacksonville.
He was taken to the UF Health Shands Hospital where he received treatment for the injury to what appears to be his left forearm.
The injury has been listed as non-life threatening.
Florida has the highest concentration of shark attack bites in the world. However, the vast majority are considered non-life threatening and often consist of minor wounds.
There have been a total of 74 shark attack bites (69 with injury, 19 of which are considered provoked*) publicly reported and verified in 2019.
All locations have been marked on the 2019 Shark Attack Map.
Five fatal**; 43 were reported in the U.S. (including one
fatal), with 24 occurring in Florida (4 provoked) 12 in Hawaii (2 no
injury, 4 provoked, 1 fatal) and 2 in California (1 no injury). Ten have been
reported in Australia, zero fatal. Four unconfirmed bites, worldwide, not
included in the total count.
*Provoked defined as spearfishing, feeding sharks, fishing, etc. (listed with
green marker).
**One possible scavenge
