9 Year Old Minnesota Boy Attacked By A Shark In Florida
A family vacation in Florida was ruined as a shark bit a chunk out of a boy's shoulder. The Eagan, Minnesota family was enjoying swimming in the ocean at Florida's Miami Beach when the attack occurred on Sunday morning. The 9 year old boy named Jay was with his mother Kristine Weiskopf at the time and were only in the water for a few minutes.
According to an interview with TV station Local10, Kristine was holding his hand while he was body surfing. The boy fell on his stomach and when she pulled him up he was missing a chunk of skin from his shoulder. That's when she saw a four foot gray shark swimming away. She ran up to the beach with the boy. Miami Beach Fire Rescue transported Jay to the Jackson Memorial Hospital. He was rushed into surgery to close the large wound.
They are concerned that it could happen to other people as the beach is still open. Fortunately for the Weiskopfs, the prognosis is good for Jay's recovery as he is young and otherwise healthy. What a bummer though for your vacation to be disrupted by such a terrifying event.
According to trackingsharks.com, this is the first shark attack in Florida this year. Last year in the United States there were 36 shark attacks. Of those, 23 occurred on Florida Beaches. There were 78 attacks reported worldwide. So, it's safe to say that Florida is one of the most frequent places attacks occur. In 2019, 15 of 34 US shark attacks happened in Florida. You can track where attacks have occurred for the last several years on the website.