ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. -- A surfer is recovering after shark attack at St. Augustine Beach.
Andrew Birchall, a 37-year-old realtor, was bitten on the foot in the water near A Street just before 1 p.m. on Thursday.
"When he got off the board, the apparently stepped on the shark in about waist deep water. The shark bit him we think twice. We think he bit him once, then kind of pulled his foot out of the shark's mouth, then he got another bite on his toes," mother Nancy Birchall said.
She said her son has been surfing the St. Augustine Beach area for years, and never had a problem.
"What he said was, it just happened so fast. But he knew what it was the minute he had the attack. He knew it was a shark," she continued.
With the possiblity of infection, doctors wasted no time getting Birchall into surgery Thursday afternoon. On top of that...they had to remove the shark's tooth from his foot and check for tendon damage.
"Just saw the movie about the little girl that had her arm taken off by the shark, so he's very fortunate not to have more damage done to his foot," Birchall said.
Birchall says she still plans on taking her grandkids to the beach, and continuing on as normal. With Hurricane Leslie churning up big waves...she does, however, warn people to be careful.
"There's lots of surfers out there. It's a smorgasbord for sharks because there's lots of dangling limbs," she said.
According to National Geographic...the best way to avoid a shark bite is to swim clear of fishing boats, avoid large groups of fish....and stay on the beach if you're bleeding.
