14-year-old boy says 'there's nothing to be afraid of' after diving into water and being mauled by shark
A teenage boy has said 'there's nothing to be afraid of' after diving into water and being mauled by a shark.
Dempsey Manhart was at a junior lifeguard training camp at Volusia County Beach in Florida when the 14-year-old was bitten by the apex predator.
The Flagler County teen had entered the waters at Ponce Inlet on July 8 at around 11.15am when the shark bit into his right calf, requiring 17 stitches.
Witnesses say he was diving into the water when he 'landed on the shark'.
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Speaking to WOFL at the time, Manhart said he initially thought he had hit another person in the water.
"I dove onto it, and I hit the shark. I hit it with my hands, and then I stood up, and it spun around and was like underneath my legs. And I think it bit me then, when it was wrapped around my feet," he said. "When it came under my feet, I was like hitting it, and then it swam away."
Despite the ordeal, the teen has a surprisingly upbeat message, saying he isn't afraid of getting back into the water again in the future, either.
He added: "I think it's something really rare that can happen, and if it's happened once, I doubt it's going to happen again. So,I don't think there's really anything to be scared of."
The Volusia County Junior Lifeguard Program started in 1990 and specializes in 'education in water safety, lifesaving techniques and beach ecology' and says it is 'dedicated to providing our participants with the best instruction possible so that one day they can be confident and efficient lifeguards.'
The news also comes as one woman reportedly lost both her hands to a shark attack in the Caribbean this month.
The 55-year-old woman, believed to be from Canada, was on vacation in the stunning Providenciales, the main island in the Turks and Caicos archipelago, when she reportedly tried to take a snap of the predator - and it snapped back.
The tourist suffered a bite to her thigh and had to have both her hands amputated.
It is the fourth-ever recorded shark attack to have taken place in the Turks and Caicos in the past five years.
The first took place in September 2021, when a man was bitten on his wrist by a seven-foot lemon shark or tiger shark, while a 22-year-old holidaymaker lost his foot two years later in May 2023.
Meanwhile, Florida is considered the shark bite capital of the world, with about 19 incidents on average a year.
Last year, the Sunshine State saw 14 bites, which was 50 percent of all the bites in the US that year and made up 30 per cent of unprovoked bites across the world.
Liv Bridge