Four people are recovering after bull shark attacks July 4, in South Padre, Texas.
The first shark attack occurred around the 4100 block of Gulf Boulevard at Beach Access 14. Around 11 a.m., a man was swimming with his family when he was pulled underwater.
“I turned around and he wasn’t there anymore. I started swimming towards him and he jumped out of the water saying, ‘Shark!, shark!, shark!,’ and that’s when the adrenaline kicked in. I started swimming after him,” Rayner Cardenas, the father-in-law of the victim, told KGRV News.
The unidentified man was bitten on the left leg and taken to Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville.
While responders were assisting the unidentified man, 18-year-old Victoria Ramos approached and informed them that she had also been bitten by a shark.
“I just felt this pressure, like someone punched me or someone pushed the back of my leg, and I turned around and there’s this shark, and we’re yelling, leaving the water. There are little bite marks on my calf, but I’m alright for now,” Ramos told KHOU.
She was treated on the scene and remained at the beach with her family.
Around two to three hours later, authorities received a second 911 call reporting two more shark attacks.
Tabitha Sullivent was out past the sandbar with her 15-year-old daughter when she spotted a dark spot in the water. Thinking it was just a fish, she went to kick it away, and the bull shark grabbed her leg. She was able to swim back toward shore using one leg and her arms. Her husband and other bystanders came to aid, but the shark was still pursuing.
Her husband, Cary, grabbed her but had to drop her to fight off the shark and sustained gashes to his upper right leg and foot.
Video shows Tabitha being carried to shore in a state of shock. Blood fills the water due to a massive injury to the leg, which shows the calf muscle on the left leg completely missing. Good Samaritans used a belt and string to fasten makeshift tourniquets. Both Sullivents were taken to Valley Regional before Tabitha was transported to another hospital.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help with medical bills.
Witnesses said the shark the estimated 8-foot-long shark continued swimming around the area, even into shallow knee-deep water.
Authorities converged on the area using helicopters and boats in an attempt to corral the shark. They were able to drive the shark to a jetty and then to deeper water. During the corralling, what appeared to be a large bull shark was caught on camera swimming in the area.
First reports indicated the same shark was involved in multiple attacks. However, without DNA evidence, it would be impossible to tell whether it was the same shark involved.
Baitfish were seen in the water, and multiple videos shared online show a number of bull sharks swimming in the Gulf waters.
Earlier this year, another swimmer was bitten by a shark in Galveston, Texas.
Damiana Humphrey, 19, was swimming in waist-deep water with her family on May 28 when they spotted something in the water. As the group headed in, a shark grabbed Humphrey’s left arm, let go, and tried to strike again.
She was able to make it back to shore and was taken to the hospital. A 5-foot shark was thought to be responsible for the incident.
The four attacks come on the heels of another set of three serious attacks in Florida.
All locations have been marked on the 2024 Shark Attack Map.
