An eight-year-old boy suffered serious injuries when he was attacked by a shark off the coast of Key Largo, Florida on Monday.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office revealed in a press release that the boy was snorkeling when he was bitten by a shark at approximately 3:24 p.m. yesterday. Emergency personnel airlifted the child to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
“The U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were notified of the incident,” the MCSO release added.
The boy’s identity has not been released, but multiple reports indicate he was severely injured.
Photo: Philip Thurston/Getty Images
‘Significant’ blood loss
According to emergency audio obtained by 7News Miami, the boy was described as “pale” and having suffered a “significant amount of blood loss,” in the aftermath of the accident.
“He’s been applied two tourniquets, we also put [inaudible] bandage to control the bleeding,” said the dispatch. “We’re on the process of getting some vital signs.”
Key Largo Fire Rescue officials told Local 10 News that the boy suffered multiple bites, including one above the knee. His injuries were “very serious.”
Thus far, there has been no further update on the boy’s condition, but Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay told the Miami Heraldthat the child was in surgery as of Monday night.
Be on the lookout in the water
News of this latest shark attack comes after several similar recent stories, including an American being severely injured by a shark while spearfishing in the Bahamas and multiple shark-related incidents in Florida.
In one instance, a surfer, Darren Kaye, literally came face-to-face with the animal when he was headbutted by a shark while in the water off New Smyrna Beach in the Sunshine State.
“Came out of nowhere and hit me like a truck,” Kaye wrote on Instagram along with video of the encounter. “His nose slammed me right in the face, his pectoral fin bruised my left bicep and got slammed right off my lost ‘96 RNF redux. Just another day at the inlet! 🦈🦈🦈🦈.”
