A man who was bodysurfing was attacked by a shark on a Cape Cod beach on Monday.
At Ballston Beach in Truro, near Cape-Cod, Mass., 40-year old Chris Myers, of Denver, was body surfing with his son when beachgoers noticed a shark fin next to him. Moments later, Myers was pulled under the water by a shark that bit both of his legs below the knee.
Myers started screaming for help and struggled to get out of the water. Beachgoers helped carry him out.
"They dragged him out and they had to carry him up here and they had to wrap it around his legs and he was bleeding through the gauzes," a witness told ABC. "It was bad. Both his legs were pretty bad."
A surgeon who happened to be on the beach treated the man until emergency services arrived, according to Fox. Rescue crews believe Myers was trying to defend himself when he was bitten.
"I guess he tried to kick the animal off," Truro Fire Chief Brian Davis told the Boston Herald. "I've never seen bites like that."
Myers' injuries were pretty severe and the bite wounds cut deep into this legs.
"It was pretty deep. You could see muscle and bone," Truro police officer Scott Holway told ABC. "It was like his flesh had been ripped."
Myers was alert when the emergency crews loaded him into the ambulance. He was first taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis where officials said he was in stable condition. He was then transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital. His legs will not have to be amputated.
Authorities posted notices and warnings to swimmers on the beach after the attack, but the beach was not closed.
There have been several shark sightings in the Cape Cod area this summer including Great White shark sightings. Due to an unusually high seal population in the area, sharks are closing in on the beaches as they feed.
"The elbow of the cape has these large, dense concentrations of gray seals now, and these white sharks go to the area to feed," said Greg Skomal, a senior biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, as quoted by ABC. "Because the seals are so abundant, now the white sharks are paying more attention."
Last month, a great white shark was photographed following a kayaker off of Nauset Beach.
"It's a little alarming, I have to say," a beachgoer told ABC. "With kids and boys that are pretty brave to go far out deep in the water, it's a little alarming especially with the seals coming so close."
It is not clear what kind of shark bit Myers, but one beachgoer believes it may have been a bull shark.
Video of Myers being carried off of the beach:
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
