A 14-year-old was surfing at the St. Augustine Beach Pier when he says a shark bit him.
Hunter Hylton said he was putting a piece of bright green surf wax in his pocket when he felt something slam into him.
"I didn't know what happened at first, and I pulled my hand out of the water and it was just gushing blood," he said.
He said he rode a wave to shore, where a lifeguard bandaged him up.
"Once he started wrapping it up, afterwards I started feeling it -- hurting and just stinging a lot," he said.
His dad Chris Hylton was surfing 10 feet from him when he was bit.
"I had my doubts about all the recent shark attacks, but I guess it's real," he said.
Sunday’s attack was the third in the past few weeks.
Nassau County beaches closed after two people were bitten on July 13. One man was hospitalized for a serious cut on his foot.
Hunter and his dad said the water was murky and people were fishing from the pier while they were surfing Sunday.
Dr. Bryan Franks, a JU professor and shark expert, said small to medium coastal sharks often follow schools of bait fish near the shore. He said the shark may have mistaken Hunter's hand for a fish.
Hunter said he has been surfing with his dad since he was 3 years old. He said getting bitten isn’t going to stop him from getting back in the water.
"I’m definitely going to keep surfing," he said. "I mean it just happens. I just see it as now I've been bitten by a shark, I shouldn’t get bit anymore."
Cox Media Group
