#6 Jessica Vaughn – June 2014.
“I don't like going into the water... when I can't see what's down there."
Jessica Vaughn told her friends moments before the life-changing attack. Nevertheless, she
plucked up the courage and joined them swimming in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale.
The 22-year-old Florida woman should have heeded her own advice. Swimming from the boat to join
her friends in the floating tubes, Jessica believed she’d cut her leg open on some glass,
but it was actually a bull shark’s serrated teeth that had torn open her flesh. Before any of the
parties involved knew what had transpired, the shark had bitten her right leg and knocked her on
the face with its muscular tail. it disappeared as abruptly as it arrived, but friends in the tubes
recognized it as a 4-foot-long bull shark. Her friends dragged her back to the boat, and only
when she was on deck did they see the severity of the wounds. A crimson crescent had been opened up
on her shin, exposing bone and muscle. After fashioning a homemade tourniquet from towels,
the boat raced back to the dock. Fort Lauderdale Fire & Rescue were already on
hand to get Vaughn to a nearby hospital. Although she described the impact as feeling like a punch,
the surgeon who operated on her later said “It was probably the largest shark bite” he’d ever seen.
It took Dr. Potparic and his team over 2 hours to stitch Jessica back together. Fortunately,
no blood vessels or nerves were damaged and Jessica was able to make a full recovery, although
not without vowing never to return to the water… #5 Jessie Arbogast – July 2001.
The Arbogast family were vacationing from their home in Mississippi, when 8-year-old
Jessie was set upon whilst paddling in waist-deep water in Pensacola, Florida.
In the first attack, the 7-and-a-half-foot beast took a chunk of the boy’s arm and thigh.
The 200lb bull shark returned for more and clamped down onto his arm. Family and onlookers rushed
to his aid where his uncle, Vance Flosenzier managed to drag the shark to the shore by its
tail. Onlookers feared it may have been too little too late as Jessie’s arm had been taken off just a
few inches from his shoulder. His aunt and other beachgoers frantically performed CPR until Park
Rangers arrived and Jessie could be transferred via helicopter to the nearest hospital.
The shark was shot 4 times, and upon prying open the now lifeless jaws,
a lifeguard on duty reached past the razor-sharp teeth and pulled out Jessie’s fragile limb. The
detached arm was put on ice and rushed to meet him at the hospital where it was determined that
it had likely gone as deep as the shark’s gullet. Unfortunately during his own trip to the hospital,
the severity of his injuries caused Jessie to bleed out and briefly die. After 30 units of
blood and a marathon 11-hour surgery, doctors had managed to reattach the missing limb and
keep him alive. Jessie was placed in a medically induced coma to prevent infection and promote
recovery. Doctors attempted several reconstruction surgeries for the wounds on his lower extremities,
but unfortunately, Jessie never regained the same physical or mental capacities as before.
#4 Dr Erich Ritter – April 2002.
Shark conservationist, Dr. Erich Ritter was betrayed by one of those closest to his heart,
when he was attacked by a bull shark in 2002. The self-proclaimed “shark whisperer” had spent his
entire education and life dedicated to the study of these sharks. Ritter completed multiple degrees
in his native Switzerland before completing his doctorate at the University of Miami.
He began fieldwork in the 1980s, carrying out practical research into the behavioral patterns of
sharks. It was his impressive resume and knowledge that landed him a job with Discovery Channel’s
Shark Week. Filming on location in the Bahamas, Ritter was standing waist-deep in the murky
waters just off Walker’s Cay; a known spot for Lemon, black-tip, and bull sharks to congregate.
The cameras were rolling, and the shark whisperer was talking to British TV presenter Nigel Marven.
Moments before, he had just explained how sharks “couldn't care less about them” being
in the water – when this particular bull took exception. After bumping into Ritter whilst
chasing a remora fish, the 350lb beast sunk its teeth into the back of his leg and held on.
Losing half of his left calf with a single savage bite, some members of the team pulled Ritter from
the now crimson waters. The crew continued to film. Despite losing substantial amounts of blood,
he managed to make it the 300 miles back to Florida to receive emergency medical
treatment. Ritter required both an arterial and skin graft to recover the damage done.
Not to be swayed from his very public opinion that there are “no dangerous sharks,
only dangerous situations” – Ritter heavily implied in a follow-up interview that the
British TV host should have warned him about the bull shark behind,
perhaps forgetting who was supposed to be the expert.
It was hardly the first time Dr. Ritter has drawn attention to himself.
Before the attack, he had been openly criticized for some of his research methods which were called
“unscientific” and “reckless”. One of his former colleagues,
Dr. Sam Gruber claimed he had become increasingly fearless and bold trying to titillate TV cameras.
Ironically, he wanted to impress on people that he could control sharks and they wouldn’t bite
him. Talk about mixed messages... #3 Paul de Gelder – February 2009.
As a diver for the Australian Navy, it’s safe to say Paul de Gelder had spent a
fair amount of time in the water. Despite his training, Paul admitted that none of
it prepared him for his encounter with this “DMA” – or dangerous marine animal.
An unusually grey and drizzly day at Sydney Harbor went from a “bad day at the office” to worse
when Paul and a police diver were testing top-secret technology for the Aussie Navy.
This “secretive” technology they were testing was supposed to help detect enemies in the water
but missed the aggressive bull shark that snuck from below. The attack, which happened just a few
hundred meters from the steps of the iconic Sydney Opera House, was the first recorded shark bite in
the harbor in 9 years, but that did nothing to lessen the severity of it. Dressed in all black,
Paul and his dive buddy were on the surface when Paul was grabbed from below. Impressively,
the beast managed to engulf both his arm and leg in its enormous bone-crunching jaws. It shook
him like a rag doll, tearing chunks of meat off of his arm and leg. Punching and fighting against the
grey killer, nothing seemed to stop the attack. Fighting off drowning and the shark’s attack,
Paul admitted he started to accept his fate, when all of a sudden, he was freed. He saw the support
boat racing towards him and he somehow began to swim towards it, still missing an arm and most of
a leg. Upon making it to the safety of the RIB, he passed out in sheer relief having constantly
been in fear of another, possibly fatal attack. His hand was long gone into the mouth of the
shark, but Paul was able to keep his leg for about a week before it had to be amputated by doctors.
The bull shark had removed his entire hamstring from the bone and surgeons said the best course
of action was to remove the lower leg and use his calf muscle for his hamstring. He agreed and after
many hours of grueling rehab, dedicated his life to traveling around, showing off his
prosthetic leg, and educating people about the importance of sharks in our ecosystem.
#2 Markus Groh – February 2008.
Tropical paradise turned bloody in 2008 when an Austrian scuba diver was bitten by a bull shark
in the Bahamas. The 49-year-old lawyer Markus Groh
was diving about 5 miles north of Great Isaac City, joined by other divers in open waters,
completely exposed. Whilst some companies provided the protection of a cage,
the company he chose, ‘Scuba Adventures’, offers “intimate shark encounters”. On this occasion,
the shark only needed a solitary intimate moment to bite his victim on the back of the leg. The
U.S. coast guard received mayday calls from the dive boat and scrambled for a helicopter.
He was rushed to Miami hospital but was unfortunately pronounced dead on arrival.
Official reports into Markus Groh’s death confirmed what was suspected at the time,
the dive company was “chumming” the water. Staff on the boat were using chum as bait as Groh
and two other paying customers were hovering at about 65 feet below the surface. The boat above
began lowering the bait down by rope, at which point one of the 5 bull sharks in the area got
impatient and nudged the bucket. In the ensuing chaos, Groh had been bitten on the calf.
The doctors said that although no muscle was taken from the leg, his femoral artery was severed. Is
this a case of an unfortunate accident, or were they showing a red flag to a bull.. shark?
#1 Chuck Anderson & Richard Watley – June 2000.
Alabama is the home of college football,
but on this day, it was known for a very different ‘Crimson Tide’.
Not known for its shark attacks, or maybe even its beaches, Alabama is sitting right along the Gulf
of Mexico, making it a prime location for these cold-blooded hunters. Two men, Chuck Anderson
and Richard Watley were taking advantage of the warm waters to train for a triathlon.
Swimming about 100 feet from the white sandy shores, Anderson felt something bump into his
leg. He pushed his head below the surface and was confronted with the grin of a 7-foot bull shark.
Before knowing he was under attack, he had lost all his fingers on his right hand.
Fending off the second and third attacks, his luck had run out by the fourth.
The stubby-nosed aggressor had him by the arm and was dragging him back to shore. Still intertwined,
the pair found themselves on a sandbank. Pound for pound, bull sharks have the most
powerful bite of many shark species which it proved, by taking Chuck’s arm clean off with
ease. Putting his fitness to good use, he sprinted from the shallows to the relative safety of land.
At this point, his swimming partner, Richard Watley, was left alone in the water. He
frantically tried to make his way back to the beach, but with only one thing on its mind,
the shark made its way for Watley. Reaching him unseen, he attacks and
takes a good bite from his side. Knowing his only chance of survival was fight and flight,
he would swim for another 10-15 seconds before turning and facing the apex predator
to kick it in the face when he could. Anderson lost his arm below the elbow
and Watley's right side was chewed up, but both men lived to tell the (Shark) Tale.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather be trapped for 10 minutes with a bull shark in an Olympic
size swimming pool or with a lion on a football pitch? Let us know in the comments section below.