An American surfer from Florida is recovering from a shark bite more than a decade after he survived a similar attack at the same beach.
Cole Taschman, 28, was surfing with friends at the Bathtub Beach in Stuart in Florida last week when he was attacked by a bull or tiger shark. The attack occurred at around 2pm on 25 October in the waters near his parent’s home.
“As I was paddling against the current, my feet are behind me, they were laying flat on the board, and an about eight- or nine-foot bull shark or tiger shark came up behind me and snatched my feet,” Mr Taschman said.
“I just looked and I saw last-second him kind of going under and then he just kind of moved towards the side. I could kind of see his silhouette.”
Mr Taschman, a fishing charter captain, said he was able to make his way back to the shore following the attack and his friends used surfboard leashes as a tourniquet for his legs. He was then taken to the hospital.
“I actually blacked out,” he told NBC’s local station. “I almost passed out from shock or losing enough blood.”
Three of his tendons were completely torn and one was partially damaged. He was left with 93 stitches and around a dozen staples after two surgeries.
Mr Taschman is back home recovering after spending four days in the hospital.
He was 16 in 2013 when a blacktip reef shark bit his hand. “Same beach, same exact rock, same place, same reef, same everything,” he said.
Mr Taschman’s girlfriend Ana Peci launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to pay for his treatment which has brought in $6,500 (£5,000) so far.
“He does not have health insurance and had to undergo two surgeries,” Ms Peci said. “He is a local captain loved in the community and won’t be able to work for three months to recover from his attack.”
She added that Mr Taschman is using a wheelchair and faces a long road to recovery.
The Ohana Surf Shop in Stuart is also raffling off a surfboard or a fishing charter trip to raise funds for Mr Taschman.
