A Florida man is in critical condition after a shark attack on the east coast of the Sunshine State.
Around 11:15 a.m. on Friday, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit responded to a distress call from a boat reporting a shark bite that caused a “critical injury.” The boat was off the coast of Fernandina Beach – which is roughly 35 miles north of Jacksonville.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office posted a video on Facebook revealing the details of the attack and how the deputy saved the man.
The man was on a fishing trip and had been bitten by the shark on the boat.
The man, who was said to be in his 40s, suffered a “severe” shark bite to his right forearm and had “lost a lot of blood.”
A Nassau County Sheriff’s Office deputy boarded the boat and applied a tourniquet to stop the heavy bleeding.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said the deputy piloted the boat to the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp – where Fernandina Beach Fire Rescue was waiting.
The victim was immediately airlifted to the nearby UF Health Jacksonville Medical Center.
The shark attack victim is currently listed in critical condition. The man is said to have been alert and expected to recover.
Sheriff Bill Leeper of the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office called the deputy a “hero” for the quick-thinking assistance that he provided to the distressed victim.
There had only been eight confirmed shark attacks in Nassau County since 1882, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
Nassau County is approximately 150 miles north of Volusia County, which is considered to be the “shark bite capital of the world.”
There have been 351 confirmed shark attacks in Volusia County since 1882, including 17 bites in 2021.
There were 16 shark attacks in the state of Florida last year, or 44% of all of the attacks in the entire United States and 23% of the worldwide total.
In June, there were three swimmers who were attacked by sharks in two different incidents in the Gulf Coast of Florida.
One woman had to have her arm amputated and suffered “critical injuries” to her hip in the shark attack that happened in Walton County – which is located in Florida’s northwest panhandle.
On the same day, two teenage girls were victims of a shark attack near Seacrest Beach, about four miles further east of the first attack.
One of the girls suffered “significant injuries to the upper leg and one hand,” while the other endured minor injuries on one of her feet, according to officials.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!