Boy suffers surfboard injury, not shark bite

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Ocean Rescue has posted double red flags to advise swimmers of the shark threat at Jensen Public Beach. Photo from Martin County.
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Posted: 05/18/2012

By: Keona Gardner, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

UPDATE: Lifeguards flew double red flags at Jensen Public Beach to indicate the waters were closed Friday afternoon, after they responded to a reported shark bite at 2:45 p.m.

Witnesses say a boy who was surfing had a gash on his leg in the shape of an arch, and fat was exposed.

He was transported to Martin Memorial Hospital, where doctors believe a surfboard, not a shark, may have caused the injury.

Update reported by Rikki Klaus, NewsChannel 5.

EARLIER STORY:

JENSEN BEACH — An 8-year-old boy was bitten by a shark at 2:45 p.m. Friday at Jensen Public Beach, Martin County Fire Rescue said.

Paramedics took the boy to a local hospital for a bite on his thigh. He said he was on his surfboard when he was bitten, according to authorities. The boy swam out of the water and to his parents, authorities said.

The beach remained open as of 4 p.m. but swimming was not allowed, Ocean Rescue said.

This would be the second shark bite on the Treasure Coast in as many weeks. A German tourist was seriously injured last week in Vero Beach when a shark attack her thigh, officials there said.

It would also be the second shark attack in Jensen in three months. Frank Wacha, 61, said a bull shark chomped on his arm in March. Friday's attack happened in the same beach area as Wacha's bite.

This story will be updated with more information when it becomes available.

Staff writer Lamaur Stancil contributed to this report.