FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – A man was hospitalized in critical condition Friday after being bitten by a shark off Fernandina Beach, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies with the sheriff’s office’s Marine Unit responded at 11:15 a.m. to a distress call reporting a man in his vessel suffered a severe shark bite to his right arm, Sheriff Bill Leeper said at a news conference.
“So they got flagged down and when they got to the boat there was an adult male in there that had a severe shark bite to his forearm here. Lost a lot of blood, he was bleeding pretty bad,” Leeper said.
According to the sheriff, a deputy who then boarded the man’s vessel put a tourniquet around the victim’s arm and even piloted his boat back to shore, where he was eventually airlifted to the hospital.
“The deputy got on the boat, assessed him real quick, put a tourniquet around his arm to stop the bleeding, actually drove his boat to the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp,” Leeper said. “The deputy was a hero when he arrived to make sure he took care of the situation.”
The victim was listed in critical condition as of Friday afternoon and is expected to recover, according to the sheriff’s office.
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