KEY LARGO, FLA. (WSVN) - An alarming shark strike near Key Largo that was caught on camera sent one man to the hospital.
Andres Garcia is all healed up and well now, but it was a different story on Sept. 29, when a small nurse shark latched its jaws onto his right foot while he was stripping a concrete dock.
The tiny marine predator would not let go.
Garcia thinks he probably stepped on the shark or accidentally put his foot in its face without realizing. Either way, this was not an easy situation to get out of.
Fortunately, the victim was not alone. Cellphone video captured his co-workers doing everything they could to ease the shark’s grip. At one point, they even used a hammer, to no avail.
After just over a minute, things started getting dicey, and Garcia was getting frustrated. His co-workers tried pulling the shark off, and the victim tried shaking it off, but it did not budge.
Shortly after, Garcia decided enough was enough. He pulled himself out of the water with the shark still hanging onto his foot.
The cellphone video did not capture the moment he was able to pry the predator off of him, but he has the battle wounds to prove it, bringing to an end a day on the water he won’t soon forget.
Garcia was taken to a nearby hospital, where he received 16 stitches.
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