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A teenage surfer survived being attacked by a shark off the coast of Florida as he reached to grab his board in the waves.
Rising pro-surf star Teddy Wittemann,16, was rescued by a couple on the beach who managed to tourniquet a shirt around his wounds until emergency responders arrived.
“It could have been so much worse,” the teenager told Fox News after the shocking incident on October 11.
The attack happened while Wittemann was 200ft from the shore at the state’s Melbourne Beach with a friend and was heading back out after he had just caught a wave.
He described the brutal moment when the 5ft predator sunk its teeth into him on Instagram writing: “The shark bit around the inside of my elbow/forearm and held on while thrashing [me] around for a second.
“I got a quick look at what seemed to be a 5ft+ shark along the side of my body.”
In an interview with Florida Today, he said: “I was paddling in and I was screaming help. I was looking at my arm freaking out, but trying to do the right thing. Another thought going through my mind was ‘I’m bleeding out, [and] I’m using this bloody arm to paddle in – what if another shark comes?’”
The championship surfer included gruesome photos of his injuries where deep tissue wounds and bite marks were visible.
Wittemann said he was fortunate to have been discharged from the hospital with no damage to his tendons or ligaments.
The teen – who is recognized as a rising star by the World Surf League – thanked the couple, Dave and Toie Crespi, who spotted the surfer waving them down in distress and rushed to his aid.
He concluded his post writing: “Super thankful to all the first responders that were able to be there for me during all this. Also thanks for all the love from everyone these past couple days.”
When help arrived, paramedics from Fire Station 64 treated the teen for his wounds, cleaning him up before taking him to Holmes Regional Medical Center where he received “at least 30 stitches”, according to Florida Today.
The USA Surfing Junior told Fox35 Orlando that he was already thinking ‘Am I going to be able to surf contests again?’ before enthusiastically revealing he was desperate to get back in the water despite the shake-up.
His father Ted was more skeptical and said “We’re just praying against infections”, the outlet wrote.
Witteman is now recovering with a large cast on his arm but has his heart set on becoming a pro surfer.
Already a high achiever, Witteman revealed that his next goal is to qualify for the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Junior Games, as per Florida Today.
According to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, there were 69 unprovoked shark bites on humans and 22 provoked bites around the world in 2023, with 14 fatalities.
The US led the way with 36 attacks and two fatalities, with Florida seeing 16 unprovoked bites.
