A college student in Florida has opened up about his ordeal with a shark attack after he nearly lost his foot to a fearsome fish while surfing.
Chris Pospisil was chasing waves Friday when he was attacked in the waters off Volusia County’s New Smyrna Beach, considered the shark attack capital of the world.
“The shark came out from under me, on my board and it knocked me back off my board, and I was falling backwards, I saw my foot in its mouth and it dragged me down,” Pospisil said. WOFL-TV from his hospital bed.
Fortunately for the University of Central Florida student, his good surf buddy, Reece Redish, was nearby and swung into action to save him.
“Immediately when I resurfaced, Reece was already there, on top of me, and he grabbed my shirt and pulled me onto the board,” Pospisil recalled.
Chris Pospisil was chasing waves Friday when he was attacked in the waters off Volusia County’s New Smyrna Beach, considered the shark attack capital of the world.
The University of Central Florida student is on his school’s surf team, and luckily, a good friend was on hand to pull him out of the water and back to shore.
Redish told the local Fox affiliate that he didn’t think twice about rushing to the rescue, saying: “I’m not going to leave my friend in the water.” I am willing to put myself at risk to help someone.
Pospisil suffered serious injuries, but surgeons managed to save his foot, and he believes the outcome could have been much worse if his friend hadn’t acted.
‘Reece really made a difference. You know, if he hadn’t been there, I think he could have been a lot worse, and I think he definitely wouldn’t have made it to shore on time and I probably would have passed out in the water,” he said.
Once Redish brought his friend to shore, lifeguards rushed to help stop the bleeding.
‘I remember asking the lifeguard: ‘Am I going to lose my footing?’ He was like, ‘I don’t know, man,’ said Pospilsil WKMG-TV.
After the attack, Pospisil was rushed to an area hospital, where he underwent four-hour emergency surgery, during which doctors found pieces of a shark tooth lodged in his ankle, according to a doctor. GoFundMe fundraiser to pay your recovery costs.
Surgeons repaired seven tendons and several blood vessels and had to make a large skin graft to wrap around Pospisil’s wound.
Pospisil, seen surfing above, was chasing waves on Friday when he was attacked in the waters off New Smyrna Beach, widely considered the shark attack capital of the world.
Pospisil’s surf buddy, Reece Redish (above), was nearby and sprang into action to save him from the shark attack.
Pospisil, seen surfing above, suffered serious injuries, but surgeons managed to save his foot and he believes the outcome could have been much worse if his friend hadn’t acted.
‘Nothing has changed. I will definitely continue browsing. It’s my lifestyle and it’s something I love to do,’ said Pospisil.
New Smyrna Beach (seen in 2019) is popular for its white-sand beaches, clear waters, and surfing waves, but the area is also known for its high concentration of shark attacks.
The student has now been released from the hospital and is getting around on crutches, but will need to stay off his injured foot for six to eight weeks.
Pospisil is also facing about six months of physical therapy and says he may not regain full function in his injured foot.
“The top of my foot will be numb in some areas for the rest of my life, and my foot might be stiff because all seven tendons had to be repaired,” he told WOFL.
Despite the traumatic experience, both Pospisil and Redish say they plan to return to surfing, the sport that first brought them together as friends during the COVID pandemic.
‘Nothing has changed. I will definitely continue browsing. It’s my lifestyle and it’s something I love to do,” said Pospisil, who is on his college surf team.
It was not immediately clear what type of shark attacked the surfer, but the most common sharks in the area include lemon sharks and blacktip sharks.
New Smyrna Beach is popular for its white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, and surfing waves, but the area is also known for its high concentration of shark attacks.
The attack on Pospisil marked the second shark attack in the area this year, according to the Daily Daytona Beach News.
Earlier this year, New Smyrna Beach topped a list of America’s 10 ‘deadliest’ beaches by online travel publication Travel Lens.
