BOCA RATON, Fla. – It was an alarming sight for beachgoers when a woman walked out of the water with a shark biting a meaty portion of her right forearm.
And no matter what she did, the 2-foot nurse shark refused to release its bite. Even when it died.
Paramedics ultimately took the woman to a hospital — with the dead shark still attached to her arm, according to Boca Raton Ocean Rescue.
The woman was stable, officials said.
"The shark wouldn't give up," said Shlomo Jacob, among the beachgoers who looked on. "It was barely breathing but it wasn't letting go of her arm, like it was stuck to her or something."
Ocean Rescue Capt. Clint Tracy saw the woman and the shark as they were put into an ambulance. "I have never seen anything like it," Tracy said. "Never even heard of anything like this."
Beachgoers said one or more people were antagonizing the shark in the water, and the woman was there, too. Tracy, the Ocean Rescue captain, said he didn't know how the woman came in contact with it.
The woman remained calm, and there was little blood, Tracy said.
Nurse sharks are common in offshore Florida waters and are known for having strong jaws filled with thousands of tiny, serrated teeth.
