28-year-old Cole Taschman was surfing at Bathtub Beach with his friends
and girlfriend on Friday, Oct. 25, when he was bitten on his feet by a
shark.
The attack came after he was previously bitten on his arm by a shark 11
years ago on the same beach at age 16.
The then-teenager was treated with 12 stitches and a cast after he kept
using his surfboard to hit the four to five-foot-long blacktip reef
shark’s head, preventing the shark from biting him again.
Taschman then wrapped his injured arm with his T-shirt before paddling
back to the shore.
Meanwhile, the surfer’s recent shark attack saw a seven or eight-foot
tiger or bull shark bite his feet.
"He came up behind me, and as he bit me, I looked behind me and saw
him on me," Taschman told the outlet. "I just screamed at [friends]
Hunter [Roland] and Zach [Bucolo].”
“They were already paddling toward me as they saw the thrashing, and
luckily there was a wave coming right there, so I just got on that wave and
rode it in on my belly,” he added.
He was then carried to shore by his friends, while the surfboard leashes
were used to stop the bleeding.
Taschman was taken to Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital in Stuart,
before being transferred to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where
he underwent two surgeries and recieved 93 stitches.
Speaking about the comparison between the first shark bite and the
second, Taschman told local NBC affiliate WPTV that “there's no
comparison,” adding, “It's so hectic how much worse this one was.”
"I actually blacked out,” he added. “I almost passed out from shock
or losing enough blood.”
Taschman continued, “So Ana [Tachman's girlfriend] is in the back
slapping me, and Zach is driving like a madman trying to get me to the
hospital. He’s dumping water on my head. They kept me awake, so thank
God.”
Grateful for the help of his loved ones, Taschman’s advice to people is
to not surf by themselves.
“It's freaky," he said of the experience. "You know, it
changes you ... So definitely don't surf alone.”
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