- A South Carolina man surfing at New Smyrna Beach in Florida was bitten in the face by a shark on Tuesday.
- "I heard the crunch. It felt like a bear trap crunching on my face," Mark Sumersett told WESH 2 News.
A South Carolina man who was surfing at a Florida beach was bitten in the face by a shark on Tuesday.
"It was the scariest thing I've probably ever been through in my life. I've been in bad car accidents. Nothing like this," Mark Sumersett told WESH 2 News.
Sumersett had just come off of his surfboard after riding a wave and was in about seven feet of whitewater when the attack happened, per WESH 2 News. The shark bit him on the right side of his face and left a wound that required about 20 stitches.
"It was pressure, and I'll tell you that pressure, it was like a crunch," Sumersett said. "I heard the crunch. It felt like a bear trap crunching on my face."
He told WESH 2 News that he suspected the gold chain he was wearing might have caught the shark's attention. Despite the close-up encounter, the surfer added that he didn't manage to see the shark that bit him.
"I jumped on my board and paddled in. I thought that sucker was going to come back for me. I thought he was 'cause I was bleeding so bad," the 38-year-old said.
Sumersett had arrived in town the day before the incident, and he already saw several sharks in the water on his first day.
"I had a feeling. I had a feeling I was going to get bit yesterday. I really did. Honestly, I had intuition," Sumersett told WESH 2 News.
The incident took place off the coast of New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County — which is also known as the "shark bite capital of the world."
Sumersett was the county's seventh shark bite victim of the year, per WESH 2 News.
According to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), there have been 343 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in Volusia County since 1882.
Despite his terrifying encounter, Sumersett says he has no plans to give up surfing.
"Heck yeah, I'm going surfing again," he told WESH 2 News. "Because I love it. There's nothing in the world that makes me feel better than surfing."
Tips to reduce risk of a shark bite
According to the ISAF, sharks are more likely to approach a solitary individual. The organization recommends swimmers to have a buddy around and avoid being too far away from the shore.
The ISAF also discourages swimmers from wearing shiny jewelry because the reflected light may resemble the sheen of fish scales.
If a shark tries to bite, the ISAF recommends hitting the shark in the eyes, the gills, or the snout.