Palatka surfer says she needed 30 stitches after a shark bit her in St. Johns County

A Palatka woman shared photos of her foot after she said shark bit her while she was surfing Wednesday at St. Augustine Beach, just south of the St. Johns County Ocean Pier.

The Surf Station on Thursday shared surfer Kerry Keyton's story and images after she said a shark clamped down on her foot while she was surfing.

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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission crews say it is believed to be one of the first local attacks of the season.

Keyton tells Action News Jax, “My legs were still in the water and I felt something hit me, and my foot felt like it has gone into like a hole of some kind."

Keyton said she jerked her foot out the shark’s mouth and paddled back to shore.

“When I got back in, this nice boy, he was like 13 or so, he helped me and I asked him to go call a lifeguard, because I thought I had been bitten by a shark. I looked at my foot, and I saw it was kind of mangled looking and I knew it was a shark. I had a jug of water with me, so I opened it and poured it over the wound, and then I wrapped the towel up and made a dressing and kind of wrapped it around the wound and applied pressure,” Keyton said.

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Keyton is recovering with almost 30 stitches in her foot and ankle.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said in Florida, sharks typically move north and closer to shore in the spring and summer, which explains why shark activity is at its peak off Florida’s coast, from April to October.

Keyton says her stitches will be removed in 15 days and it’ll take about six weeks for her to recover.

Cox Media Group