A Hialeah man who said he was bitten by a shark in Biscayne Bay is speaking exclusively with CBS News Miami and lending his advice to swimmers across South Florida.
Yosvany Echevarria, 46, said he was with friends when the attack happened late Saturday morning while he was snorkeling off Boca Chita Key. Boca Chita Key is about 20 miles from Miami.
CBS News Miami spoke with him at Jackson South Medical Center, where he was transported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue after the call came in around 11:30 a.m.
Echevarria showed CBS News Miami his injuries and the bandages on his arms.
“I was scared. I was in a lot of pain,” Echevarria said in Spanish. “We were swimming there by the beach. I was diving in the water and snorkeling, and a shark lunged at me, at my hands.”
As he motioned with his hands near his chest, Echevarria said, “He was like this size. It was a white shark, but I don’t know what type of shark it was. He bit me here in my entire hand, like seven or eight bites, and I have 27 stitches in total. It was on my arm.”
“We got out because we were close to the shore and we called somebody to pick us up,” he continued.
Echevarria told CBS News Miami he came here from Cuba three years ago and has been snorkeling ever since.
“I love to be out there,” he said. “This is the first time this has happened. It’ll take a long time for me to get back in the water.”
Echevarria shared this warning with CBS News Miami for swimmers.
“My advice to people is if they are going to get in the water, they need to be careful. It could have been much worse,” he said. “I was lucky it was just bites. He could have ripped my arm off.”
