MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Florida shark attack: Terrifying video shows fisherman being dragged off boat and into water

The man was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel

EVERGLADES, FLORIDA: A terrifying video has captured the shocking moment a vicious shark attacked a fisherman and pulled him overboard into the murky waters of Everglades National Park in Florida. The frightful ordeal unfolded after the victim attempted to dip his hand in the water despite his friends cautioning him of the dangers.

“I wouldn’t put your hands in there,” a person off-camera said, to which the man replied, “Ah, two seconds won’t do anything.” As the victim leans over to reach the shallow water, a partially hidden shark leaps out of the water and chomps into him, dragging him head-first into the water. “Get him! Get him! Get him!” the friend could be heard screaming in panic as the victim struggled to hold on to the boat. After a few seconds, the shark lost its hold and the man was able to get back on the boat with his injured hand.

Who was the victim?

His friend Michael Russo, who recorded the attack, claimed that the group hastened back to the pier where park officers assisted the victim. “He was rushed back to the dock and the Park Rangers were a lifesaver (literally),” Russo wrote, according to the Florida Instagram account. The National Park Service said the man was then airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel, according to Local 10 News. Last week, Russo posted a video of the incident while sharing details surrounding the heart-stopping moment when his friend Nick was bitten.

"Today was one of the scariest days on the water I have ever had," Russo wrote in a caption of the since-deleted post. "It started off great and we were crushing the fish but the sharks were eating some, despite our best efforts. After releasing a snook, Nick washed his hands in the water and was immediately bit by a large [lemon] shark," he continued. Russo called the attack ‘unprovoked’, noting that there was no chum or blood in the water when the shark bit Nick while he was attempting to cleanse his hand. "The sharks are no joke in the Everglades and the warnings about keeping your hands out of the water are not an exaggeration," he added, according to Daily Mail.

‘Dude deserves it’

The horrifying video has since garnered immense social media attention, which users slamming Nick for rinsing his hands into the water. “Maybe petting a shark is not the best idea in the world,” one user wrote. "Dude deserves it. I fish there all the time, on land we’ve got rattlesnakes, bears, and gators to keep an eye on. When I see those animals I don’t reach out to them. Same thing in the water, careful unhooking cudas and make sure no sharks are around before releasing a fish," a second user fumed while the third user said, "I don’t know why he would share this video, he practically put his hand in the shark's mouth. What did you expect to happen?"