ISLAMORADA, FLA. (WSVN) - A young man is on the road to recovery days after an encounter with a shark off the Florida Keys sent him to the hospital with a painful bite.
Speaking with 7News on Sunday, 22-year-old Ethan Wilder shared his account of coming face-to-face with the marine predator, Friday afternoon.
“Me and my buddy were out spearfishing, and I just speared a fish, and I swam back up to the surface with them,” he said, “and I had it in my left hand, and I was about to swim back to the boat, and then a shark came from behind me and got my leg.”
The shark strike happened near Davis Reef, off Islamorada.
Wilder said his fishing partner was watching from a distance.
“Well, he was watching from the boat, and he thought that the shark had just bit the fish,” said Wilder. “He didn’t realize he got me until I got to the boat.”
Wilder said his immediate reaction was not extreme.
“We were pretty cool. I told him to pull the anchor, and he went up there and grabbed the anchor, and he helped me climb up on the boat,” he said, “and I just grabbed my phone, called the Coast Guard and then started hauling tail back towards the station.”
Wilder has been a Coast Guard member for two years.
USCG crews later helped him to shore. From there, Islamorada Fire Rescue transported him to Founders Park, where he was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center.
Wilder had to undergo surgery. He has since been released and is expected to be back to 100% in a few weeks.
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