Shark Takes 'Chunk' Out of Florida Woman's Leg

Victim said to be doing fine after day at the beach
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 16, 2014 6:22 AM CDT
Shark Takes 'Chunk' Out of Florida Woman's Leg
   (©)

A 38-year-old woman's day at a Florida beach came to a painful end yesterday morning, when a shark bit off a "chunk" out of her calf. ClickOrlando.com reports the unnamed woman was body boarding with her brother at Melbourne Beach while her two kids played onshore when a shark grabbed a mouthful. "Typically you'll see fish jumping out of the water, birds chasing after the fish ... It was just out of nowhere, bam," the victim's brother says. After she was brought to shore, it was determined she couldn't wait for a helicopter due to her heavy bleeding, so she was rushed to the hospital via ambulance, WESH reports.

Emergency workers say the victim was alert and talking and told them the shark was ... big; the type of shark isn't known. Her brother adds she should be back home soon. "You always hear that you have a better chance to get struck by lightning or winning the lottery and go figure it's the shark bite that comes first, but I was telling her, 'maybe we can win the lotto tonight.'" The attack follows another two days earlier in Jacksonville, where a woman was bitten on the foot while wading in shallow water, WPTV notes. She needed 21 stitches. (More shark attack stories.)

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