dunta..Dunta..DUNTA..Shark Attack, Islamorada, FL

[BADTODABONE]

:scared

Florida Wire :s1:
Shark bites swimmer off Islamorada; remains hospitalized
Monday, August 20, 2007
ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) A swimmer bitten by a shark off Islamorada is recovering in the hospital.

Authorities say Chris Olstad was swimming his usual route from Founder's Park to a sailboat about a half mile off shore and back when he was struck in the side.

The 52-year-old made it back to shore and was taken to the hospital. He told authorities it was a shark that bit him.

Authorities say a large chunk of flesh is missing from his side.

Olstad remains hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com

 

[BADTODABONE]

Update in today's once aweek paper....

read the last comment from the guy.....I'd buy a dinghy :s1:

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Swimmer likely bitten by shark

BY STEVE GIBBS
Free Press Staff
ISLAMORADA ? A swimmer was attacked by what may be a shark Sunday evening about a quarter mile offshore from the Founders Park beach.
Chris Olstad, 52, a marine biologist from Tavernier, was bitten on his side as he was swimming to shore during his routine exercise regimen.
He said he often swims to an anchored boat about a half-mile offshore and back and has done so for the past seven or eight years.
"Making it back to shore was the hairy part," Olstad told the Free Press Monday from his Ryder Trauma Center recovery room. "I was doing the backstroke when I felt a bump with force and a little wiggle. I checked my left ribcage and felt my ribs. I was worried that the shark would come back for seconds.
Olstad did not see the animal that bit him. But he says he is 99 percent sure it was a shark.
"My first reaction was to get away so I swam towards the mangroves," he said. "I felt like I was going to pass out. I held the wound flap with one hand and swam with the other."
Olstad said he passed out on the Founders Park beach two or three times before he made it to his car parked close by. He drove to the sheriff's substation at the front of the park.
"He stepped through the door with blood coming from his mouth and from a large wound on his back and chest," according to a report filed by Sgt. Tom Kiffney of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
Kiffney said the man's wounds were extensive, from under his arm to his waist, with a large chunk of his flesh missing.
"I am very fortunate that I made it to the substation," Olstad said.
Olstad was treated by an emergency medical technician and transported by ambulance to Mariners Hospital, four-and-a-half miles to the north. From Mariners, Olstad was airlifted to Ryder in Miami for surgery.
Olstad expected to remain at Ryder for a few days where he will be monitored for infection.
It was the second time this month that a person was attacked in Islamorada by marine life.
A 19-year-old Jacksonville woman was bitten on her forearm near Bud & Mary's Marina on Aug. 7 by what officials say may have been a shark or barracuda.
There was little doubt about Olstad's wounds.
Kiffney stated "a perfect 7- or 8-inch bite on the victim's side" matched what would be inflicted by a shark.
Olstad said the attack would not deter him from swimming after his recuperation.
"This was a rare event," he said.

 

[Lucy11]

Did they identify the type of shark?

 

[BADTODABONE]

No...today's paper had a little more on the story...guy was doing the backstroke, usually swam face in the water, had seen sharks before, rays.......says he's still going to swim, just not the back stroke, once he heals.

I have a kayak he needs to buy....I might track him down..............

dunta.......Dunta.......DUNTA....:s1: