Florida Fisherman Survives Shark Attack and Smiles for the Camera
A young fisherman from Florida had a frightening encounter with a shark while out in the Gulf on August 2. Chance Armand was about 20 miles off the coast near Pensacola when he spotted an 8-foot bull shark swimming beneath him.
As the shark approached, Armand quickly tried to swim away, but the shark was too fast. He told local news that he realized too late that it was not turning back. In a moment of desperation, he put his knee between himself and the shark. Fortunately, once the shark bit his knee and figured out it wasn’t its intended target, it swam away.
After the attack, Armand’s friends pulled him onto their boat and worked to stop the bleeding from his injury. He explained they used a t-shirt, a speargun band, and a fillet knife to create a makeshift tourniquet.
Despite the situation, Armand managed to smile for a photo shortly after the attack, showing off his injured leg. Once back near land, they called 911, and an emergency crew met them at the dock to take him to the hospital.
Once at the hospital, Armand spent less than 24 hours there. He shared pictures of his injury on social media and expressed his relief that the damage was not as severe as he feared. “By the grace of God, there was no tendon damage, no bone damage, no artery damage — it’s just one giant, gnarly flesh wound,” he noted.
Unshaken by his terrifying experience, Armand plans to return to spearfishing once his leg heals. He’s also determined to be better prepared by bringing along a first aid kit next time.
Interestingly, he mentioned that he often sees sharks while fishing and actually enjoys it. Armand shared his childhood dreams of marine biology and recalled seeing the same shark a couple of times earlier that day before it attacked. Ultimately, he said the most frustrating part of the whole experience was losing his speargun in the water.
