A man visiting from Canada is recovering after being bitten by a shark near Hollywood Beach, according to local authorities.
Hollywood Fire Rescue public information officer Chai Kauffman said the man, in his 40s, was vacationing with family and friends when he was bitten while swimming in chest-deep water.
The man reported seeing a fish jump over his head followed by a large splash—then realized he had been bitten.
Quick response and surgery
Kauffman said the man managed to walk out of the water and collapse onto the sand, where beachgoers rushed to help.
First responders applied a tourniquet at the scene before transporting him to Memorial Regional Hospital.
He underwent surgery and is in stable condition and recovering well, according to Kauffman.
Mixed reactions from beachgoers
“I normally just worry about the under-current taking me and paying attention to that but now I’m going to have to be looking out for a fin over top of the water now, that’s scary,” said Alexandria Matty, who was visiting Hallandale Beach from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, with Madison Ritenour.
“The last day that we were here it was all the seaweed and stuff so it looks nicer but now I don’t know,” Ritenour added.
Local resident Charlie Dorin, however, said the waters don’t worry him.
“I see a lot of sharks but they do not bother the people. I’ve seen them swim right through people, around people. I paddle board here all the time, I see sharks all the time and never has there been an attack,” Dorin said.
Shark bite survivors reunite in West Palm Beach
In a separate event in West Palm Beach, shark bite survivors reunited with medical teams at St. Mary’s Medical Center. Among them was Jeff Joel, who was bitten by a lemon shark while diving near Jupiter.
“I was trying to get it out and I did—she got away but she got me too,” Joel said. “I dive with sharks a lot, that’s what I did for the last 20 years, and I spear fish too, and I’ve been surrounded by a dozen bull sharks and I’ve never had an issue.”
