A Florida man who fell off a fishing boat final month at a marina within the Bahamas and was attacked by a shark is recovering.
Marlin Wakeman, 24, of Stuart, mentioned throughout a Thursday information convention at St. Mary’s Medical Heart in West Palm Seaside that he’d be returning to the Bahamas and the water as quickly as attainable.
“I may have some nightmares here or there, but I’ll be all right,” Wakeman mentioned.
Wakeman was on the Flying Fish Marina in Lengthy Island on April 26 when he tried to leap to the docked boat he was engaged on.
He mentioned at the very least 20 sharks swim across the marina at any given time as a result of they’re interested in the discarded fish carcasses.
Wakeman slipped and fell into the shark-infested water, and he was bit on the leg seconds later by what he believed was a Caribbean reef shark.
One other shark hit him on the shoulder earlier than he may get out of the water.
Wakeman mentioned the boat’s captain tied a tourniquet on his leg earlier than he was taken to a clinic.
He was later flown to Florida for surgical procedure at St. Mary’s.
Dr. Robert Borrego mentioned the shark punctured Wakeman’s kneecap and simply missed an artery.
The trauma surgeon estimated the shark to be about 7 ft lengthy, primarily based on the dimensions of the chew mark.
Borrego mentioned he expects Wakeman to make a full restoration.
