WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A 24-year-old man is on the road to recovery after he was bitten by a shark while he was in the Bahamas.
A conference with Marlin Wakeman and staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center was held, Thursday.
During his trip to the Bahamas, Wakeman described falling into what he referred to as a shark den.
He was working on a boat at the Florida Flying Fish Marina in the Bahamas and said he misjudged the space in between the dock and the boat and accidentally fell into the water.
The marina is filled with sharks due to constant fishing in the area.
When Wakeman fell into the water, he was immediately surrounded by about 20 sharks. He was attacked by one shark that grabbed and chomped on his leg.
“He grabbed my leg, the first shark did, and he pulled me underwater,” he said.
Wakeman was able to grab part of the boat and lifted himself out of the water.
“Kinda scrambled for a second, got my surroundings in check and really realized what was going on,” he said, “and I got my left hand on the boat, and at that time, the other shark came and hit me on my right side of my right solder.”
He was then attended by authorities in the Bahamas who tied a tourniquet on his wound to stop the bleeding and was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
Doctors at the hospital were able to perform surgery, clean his wound and made sure that there was no damage to his kneecap.
Wakeman is currently on crutches and, doctors said, he is expected to make a full recovery.
Doctors also said he was very lucky he fell into the shark-infested water and was able to make it out alive.
