Shark attack survivor: ‘I’ll go back in the water’
Teen endures massive bites, escapes lobster diving trip
A 15-year-old boy who got chomped by a bull shark, losing about 70% of his blood as he saw red everywhere in the water, says he will still return to the sea someday.
Lucas Cruz, of Florida, was bit in both of his legs as he went lobster diving in Key Largo last month. He had teeth marks in his leg bones, according to the doctors who reconstructed both of his legs.
A tourniquet likely helped save the ninth grader’s life before he made it to the hospital, Dr. Haaris Mir told the Herald.
“Had the boat captain not put the tourniquet on his leg, he may not have survived,” said Mir, medical director at the Burn and Reconstructive Centers of America in Miami, adding that the shark bite was “by far the worst” type of ocean-animal injury he has seen during his eight years in South Florida.
The shark bite led to Lucas losing about 70% of the blood in his body, or about three liters.
The teen had only been in the water for about 15 minutes when a bull shark attacked him, causing significant tissue damage and lacerations to his legs.
His injuries included a bite to the upper inner thigh of his right leg, a bite to the front of his left leg, as well as a bite that went from the knee down — damaging muscles and severing his left Achilles.
“I was wondering if I’d lose my leg,” Lucas told the Herald. “I didn’t think I’d die, but I thought I was going to lose my leg because it was pretty torn apart.”
Suffering extensive blood loss at the scene, Lucas was airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he spent the next 11 days.
Mir did surgery on the front and back of Lucas’ left leg, and Burn and Reconstructive Centers of America’s Dr. Rizal Lim worked to repair the right leg using cadaver skin grafts.
Lucas is now in physical therapy, and his outlook is good, Mir said.
“The best thing is he’s young, and he has age on his side,” the doctor said, predicting the teen will be able to run around and play basketball on the family’s backyard court.
Lucas was lobster diving in about 6 to 8 feet of water. He had gone out with a group, but then got a bit separated and that’s when the shark bite happened.
“It doesn’t feel like what you would think,” Lucas said. “I thought I got hit by a boat, but then I realized there was no boat nearby.”
The shark encounter happened so fast that he never actually saw the bull shark.
He looked down and saw blood everywhere in the water.
Since the incident, many people have been asking him if he’ll ever return to the sea.
“I’ll go back in the water eventually,” Lucas said, noting how his family loves anything to do with the ocean.
“The situation has made me stronger.”
One other takeaway is to make sure the water is clear, he said, adding, “Don’t go diving in murky water.”