MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida man shared his story of survival after coming face to face with a shark off Key Biscayne.
Fifty-year-old Alvaro Ordonez spoke about the shark attack while recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Tuesday.
Ordonez said he was out spearfishing with friends, about three miles off the coast of Key Biscayne, when the shark attack occurred, Saturday.
The 50-year-old said they had just shot some fish when a massive bull shark came at him.
He said he then grabbed the shark by the snout and tried to wrestle it away, but the shark ended up attacking his hand.
“He came at me. I grabbed it by the snout. I kind of flipped it, but I couldn’t flip it all the way because it was massive,” Ordonez recounted. “I think I never got bitten. I think it was serrated.”
Ordonez’s friend stepped in to get him out of the pool of blood, and the captain then pulled him out of the water and back into the boat.
As an avid diver and spearfishing enthusiast, Ordonez said he’s had several interactions with sharks but nothing quite like this.
Video shot by Ordonez showed the 50-year-old just moments after the attack.
“What happened to my hand, Eric?” Ordonez could be heard asking his friend in the video.
“A shark bite,” his friend Eric said.
“A shark bite, finally!” Ordonez said in response. “The whole boat full of blood.”
Paramedics transported him to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where trauma surgeons said Ordonez’s artery, vein and nerves were injured during the attack.
“Even though he described it as a slice and not really a cut, it was still potentially very troublesome, especially for someone who uses their right hand,” said Dr. Rishi Rattan, one of Ordonez’s trauma surgeons.
Surgeons said Ordonez, who is a dentist, is expected to make a full recovery.
“I feel I’m OK. I’m moving my hand. I feel everything. I feel my fingers. I’m going to do a speedy recovery,” Ordonez said. “I’m going to be back in my practice, taking care of my patients soon. Sorry to my patients that are watching this. Please wait for me a few weeks.”
Ordonez said he is now grateful that his friend Eric was there to save him.
“At the end, he counted four sharks. I counted about six, just charging,” Ordonez said. “He went into the pool of blood and got me out. I’m here because of him, pretty much.”
Despite the attack, Ordonez said he is still a shark lover and that he plans on getting in the water as soon as he can.
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