(WSVN) - A 13-year-old went from lobster catcher to shark bike survivor after a scary encounter in the Florida Keys when an unwanted visitor crashed their family fishing trip.
Fischer Hricko, from Oviedo, loves being in the water, but last Wednesday his favorite place turned into a quick nightmare for him and his family.
“He just popped up screaming, ‘Mom, mom, shark! Get me out of here! Get me out of the water!'” said Hricko’s mother.
A shark bit Fischer in the face while he was catching lobsters in the water.
“I saw a big one, and I got it in my hand,” said Fischer recalling the attack. “On the way up, when I had the lobster in my hand, I felt a little tap on the back of my leg, and I looked behind me, and the shark was in my face.”
Fischer’s mother, Rhiannon, was navigating the boat at the time of the attack.
“All of a sudden, I see him pop out of the water, and it was honestly the scariest five minutes of my life,” said Rhiannon. “Just hearing that terror in your child’s voice, it’s something that I can’t actually get out of my head.”
She pulled Fischer and her husband onto the boat, and they were off.
Rhiannon rushed to the dock to get her son to the hospital.
A doctor used 10 stitches to repair Fischer’s lip, which was split from the bite after they reached the shore.
“It hurts every so often, but it’s fine now,” said the 13-year-old.
Fischer won’t let this experience ruin his love for the ocean, but it still left a mark.
“I’m ready, but I feel like the first few times I’ll be a little scared, but I’ll get in the water,” he said.
Rhiannon will probably stay in the boat.
“I guess it was always in the back of my head,” she said. “That’s why I don’t jump in.”
Doctors ordered Fisher to wait until the stitches come out before he can go back into the water. After that, he will continue doing what he loves: fishing.
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