ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida man is fortunate to be alive after a close encounter with a shark, but it has left him with a massive medical bill.
Jeremy Carr was surfing last weekend at Walton Rocks on Hutchinson Island when a shark suddenly grabbed him.
"The bull shark came right underneath and latched onto my foot and gave a little exploratory bite and wanted to see what I tasted like, and it didn't like what it tasted, so it let me go, which I’m very fortunate about," Carr said.
He was then able to paddle to the shore and get help, while carefully holding his feet above his board.
"I got to the beach and started to try to walk, and I basically collapsed right on the beach because my foot just couldn't handle any of the pressure," Carr said.
He then began crawling towards the parking lot to get help. A crew of other surfers was able to help triage his foot and call an ambulance.
"I thought it just needed stitches, but it definitely wasn't [just] stitches," Carr said.
Now, he needs help with his medical bills, something his friends in the surfing community are trying to help with.
Jordan Schwartz, the owner of Ohana Surf Shop in Martin County, started a GoFundMe page to help Carr, who is a longtime team rider for the surf shop.
"We love Jeremy. He's the first to give and the last to ask every time. He did not ask for this GoFundMe. My wife and I wanted to do something because we knew his bills were gonna be large," Schwartz said. "Just about every local surfer in the area stopped by the shop -- whether it's $5, $7, $300, so it's been a group effort, and we've been very lucky."
Visit Carr's GoFundMe page if you would like to donate to help him pay for his medical bills.