Woman is 'bitten to the bone' by shark at a Florida beach where she had been wading in waist deep water 

  • The 28-year-old tourist was waist-deep in the water at Cocoa Beach, Florida
  • She was attacked by a shark, which bit her ankle, exposing the bone 
  • Beachgoers helped her from the water and she was taken to hospital 
  • Last year there had been 52 unprovoked shark attacks in Florida alone  

By JENNIFER NEWTON FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

A woman has been injured in a shark attack at a Florida beach after she had been wading waist-deep in water.

The 28-year-old, who is thought to be a tourist, had been bathing in the Atlantic Ocean off Cocoa Beach, near Cape Canaveral yesterday, when she was bitten, exposing the bone on her ankle.

Witnesses say they didn't see any signs of a shark before the attack and rescuers quickly took her to the Holmes Regional Medical Center in nearby Melbourne by ambulance.

Paramedics help Jill into an ambulance on Sunday. She has since had surgery on her calf and hand stitches

Paramedics help a woman into an ambulance after she was bitten by a shark while wading waist deep in water at a Florida beach 

She was also helped to the shore by other beachgoers, who only reported seeing jellyfish in the water.

Jeff Scabarozi, cheif of the Brevard County Ocean Rescue told K5: 'She was about waist deep in the water when she got bit on the ankle. We were able to administer care to her.

'There's a plethora of sharks in the area. Bull sharks, black tip and spinners.'

Holly Petersen was in the water next to the woman at the time when she began screaming.

She told NBC News: 'I looked over at her and she said "Somebody help me!"

'I saw the fin come up and slap her in the face, and she said "It got me", so I grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the shore.'

The 28-year-old was in the Atlantic Ocean off Cocoa Beach, pictured, east of Orlando, when she was bitten

The 28-year-old, who is thought to be a tourist, had been bathing in the Atlantic Ocean off Cocoa Beach, pictured, near Cape Canaveral yesterday, when she was bitten

Although there had been no shark sightings it is believed that large groups of bait fish had congregated about a mile from the shore.

Last year, more than half of the country's 52 unprovoked shark attacks were in Florida with an attack also taking place last week in Hawaii.

A 10-year-old boy was bitten by the creature at Oahu beach with the youngster kicking the animal to escape the attack.

So far this year, three people died in 72 unprovoked attacks around the globe with two being in Australia, and one in South Africa.

 

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