INJURED – 7 July 2011 – Mustang Island, Nueces County, Texas, US – fisherman attacked

“The biggest deal in my son’s case is that he fought it, kicked at it. He didn’t just stay there and say, ‘Here, get me’. I think the shark decided he didn’t want to mess with him anymore; he just swam off.”

Shawn Hamilton was bitten on the right foot by a Bull shark while fishing in waist deep water.

Shawn Hamilton, 14, was bitten on his right foot and shin by a 5-foot Bull shark while fishing with his father in waist-deep water near Mustang Island, Nueces County, Texas in the US. The incident happened around 4.30pm on Thursday 7 July 2011.

It’s reported he was in waist-deep water on the second sandbar off shore near Beach Access Road 2 between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi when the attack occurred.

According th media reports he yelled “Shark!” several times after he saw what appeared to be  five-foot Bull shark approaching him. He jumped around trying to fend off the shark, but was bitten on the right foot and shin.

“I was reeling in my bait just making sure the line was tight,” Shawn told media. “All of a sudden, I see this shark come at me. … I felt it pound against my leg and I started jumping up and down.

“It’s pretty weird how I got away with a couple of bites and I still have my foot,” he is quoted as saying. “It was really like a sharp knife just going through your skin. You don’t feel it that much, but you knew it was there.”

He father told media: “We’re a fishing family, and we understand that every time we step foot in the water, there is a possibility of something like that happening. You’re part of the food chain once you get out there. We try to take all the necessary precautions.”

According to media reports, his father, Hamilton, thought his son was shouting because he was scared by seeing a shark swim by.

“I never knew an attack was going on. I thought he was in panic,” he said.

After the attack, Hamilton and his wife, Ronda, took Shawn to the beach, poured a gallon of distilled water on the wounds, wrapped two beach towels around his foot and leg and took him to Corpus Christi Medical Center.

He received 54 stitches.

He has lost feeling right side of his foot and it was not known if this would return.

His dad was quoted as saying: “The biggest deal in my son’s case is that he fought it, kicked at it. He didn’t just stay there and say, ‘Here, get me’. I think the shark decided he didn’t want to mess with him anymore; he just swam off.”

Sources:
Caller.com

PIC source:
Caller.com

INJURED – 7 July 2011 – Sunday Beach, near Port O’Conner, Texas, US – swimmer attacked

Nicholas Vossler, 12, was bitten on the left foot by what is believed to be a bull shark. The incident happened around 5pm on Thursday 7 July 2011 at Sunday Beach, a remote beach about 3.5 hours from Galveston, Texas, US.

A family friend reportedly fought off the shark and brought Nicholas to shore.

“My friend was right there with him, and he grabbed him — as the shark was trying to pull him,” the boy’s father was quoted as saying.

“I had to put the skin back across his foot and take my shirt off, and get it wrapped because the arteries were bleeding out,” he said.

Nicholas was taken by boat to a waiting helicopter, which transported him to a hospital, where he underwent surgery to reattach his foot.

Sources:

Click2Houston

KHOU

INJURED – 31 May 2011 – Follet’s Island near Surfside Beach, Texas, US – swimmer bitten

Kori Robertson shows off her shark bite wound

Kori Robertson, 22 was bitten on the right thigh by what is presumed to be a bull shark, while in waist deep water about 50 metres offshore of Follet’s Island near Surfside Beach, Texas, US.

The incident happened about 3pm on 31 May 2012.

The shark bite left a string of 1cm deep puncture wounds.

“All of a sudden, I felt something jerk me and bite,” she told media.

Robertson told the Houston Chronicle: “It didn’t feel like a little fish nibbling at me. I had to pull my leg up out of the water, then I thought I had to get out of the water. Now.”

“I was kind of like swimming and thinking ‘I just don’t want to get bitten again,’” Robertson told KHOU 11 News.

She didn’t see the shark.

Her boyfriend wrapped the wound in a towel and took her to University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Doctors treated the wound, but didn’t stitch it fearing infection.

Robertson was quoted as saying: “I was really lucky. There were people that I’ve seen that lost their legs, and like, lost chunks of their skin and, I mean, I’m going to be lucky to just walk away, hopefully – if there’s no infection – with just scars. That’s pretty awesome from what I’ve seen.”

She said doctors told her the shark bit her twice.

Sources

Houston Chronicle
MSNBC
KHOU
PIC Source
Houston Chronicle

INJURED – 14 July 2010 — 8 Mile Road, Galveston, Texas, US – fisherman attacked

Charlie Gauzer - shark attack victim

Charlie Gauzer (age not reported – although reports do say he has been a fisherman for more than 50 years) was fishing  off 8 Mile Beach, Galveston, Texas, US when a shark bit his leg, severing his Achilles tendon.

The incident occurred on Wednesday 14 July, 2010.

Reports are a bit sketchy, but say “a shark clamped its teeth into his leg as he kicked and paddled to try to get away”.

He’s quoted as saying: The size of the top of the head was about 2 to 3 feet wide.

“It was more of like a tree trunk hitting you. Then I started to feel pain and I looked down and I had blood coming out of my leg.

“It was gashed pretty good, down to the bone. But he missed the artery.”

There was no mention of the extend of his injury, what type of shark it was or where he was treated.

Sources:
Click2 Houston
NYPost

PIC source:
Click2 Houston