AN eight-year-old boy has been airlifted to the hospital after a shark mauled him off a Florida beach as he snorkeled with his dad.
The little boy was left fighting for his life when the underwater beast latched onto his leg and caused “significant” blood loss.
A boy was attacked by a shark while swimming off Key Largo in Florida[/caption]
The horrific attack left him in severe condition with significant blood loss (stock)[/caption]
He was attacked on Monday afternoon before 3:30 pm while snorkeling off Horseshoe Reef in Key Largo, which is an island on the Florida Keys.
A dive vessel nearby rushed over to help the boy get out of the shark-infested waters.
Horrifying audio captured the moment dispatchers sent first responders to the bloody scene.
“So, we have an 8-year-old, significant amount of blood loss,” dispatch audio obtained by Fox affiliate WSVN revealed.
“Patient is pale.”
Paramedics urgently put two tourniquets above the wound, which was above the knee, and applied a bandage to control the bleeding, the dispatcher said.
A helicopter eventually came to airlift him to the Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center in Miami.
The boy was described as being in severe condition on Monday, and it’s unclear what his condition is as of Tuesday morning.
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said the little boy underwent surgery on Monday evening, according to the Miami Herald.
The sheriff’s office notified both the US Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission of the attack.
SHARK HORROR
The brutal attack in Key Largo is just the latest in the string of horrific maulings this summer.
In August, a man was left soaked in blood after a bull shark tried to rip off his foot.
Chance Armand was out spearfishing off Pensacola Pass when the beast sank its teeth into his leg.
“By the time I acknowledged he wasn’t gonna turn around, it was too late,” Armand told Fox affiliate WALA.
Protect yourself from a shark attack
Below are some tips to protect yourself from shark attacks:
- Swim in groups
- Don’t swim during dawn or dusk
- Avoid fishing areas
- Don’t wear anything bright
- Pay attention to your surroundings
Source: American Surf Magazine
Armand was stunned by the attack as he often spots the predators but has never had any brushes with violence.
“I didn’t really have time to, you know, react otherwise besides put my knee between myself and the shark,” Armand said.
After biting his knee, the shark swam down deeper into the ocean and Armand rushed to the surface to call his friends for help.
He was pulled back into a boat, where his friends quickly wrapped a makeshift tourniquet made of t-shirts around his upper thigh.
By the end of the incident, Armand smiled for a bloody photo while his friends raced him to the hospital.
Just days before that attack, a seven-year-old boy’s leg was ripped to pieces by a 13-foot shark.
