A Florida fisherman shares his story of survival after a shark attack in the Bahamas

A Florida native who was bitten by multiple sharks after slipping and falling from a fishing dock while working in the Bahamas kept his cool not only during the horrific experience, but also as he addressed the media last week Attack remembered.

“I’m fine,” Marlin Wakeman, who lives in the town of Stuart on Florida’s Atlantic coast, said during a news conference at the West Palm Beach hospital, where he was recovering after the April 26 attack.

Wakeman, 24, told reporters, including one from the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, that he was working on a yacht charter boat when he accidentally fell into shark-infested waters at the Flying Fish Marina on Long Island during low tide and there landed attacked by two sharks.

At least 20 sharks swam around him as he hit the water and “landed in a shark cave,” he recalled of the harrowing scene.

“I was like, hey man, I don’t really want to die right now, this isn’t it,” he coolly recalled of a horrific experience, prompting laughter from media members and others at the news conference.

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When the first shark subdued him

As he clung to the boat’s cockpit, the first shark grabbed his leg and pulled him underwater, Wakeman said.

“I kind of went crazy for a second and took control of my surroundings,” he recalled softly.

As the shark loosened its grip, Wakeman resurfaced and just as he managed to hold on to the boat deck, a second shark grazed his right shoulder with its teeth. After that, he said, he did a full pull-up to get into the boat.

As Wakeman remained calm with his leg raised, a sailboat operator saw his injuries freaking out and yelled, “‘He’s bleeding to death’… and I thought, ‘Hey, can we get this guy away from me?’ That’s crazy.’ me out a bit.

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A boat captain, a tourniquet and a blackout

The boat’s captain heard Wakeman’s cries for help from inside the boat. When he saw him, he tied a tourniquet around his leg, pushed him in a wheelbarrow to a van, and took him into a van, where someone shoved gauze into his leg wound and he passed out from the pain.

Wakeman was taken to the nearest medical clinic and later flown to Florida for surgery.

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Shark bite narrowly missed an artery in the leg

Dr. Robert Borrego, Wakeman’s surgeon, said the shark’s bite narrowly missed a femoral artery in his leg – which could have caused him to bleed out and die.

After assessing the bite mark, the surgeon said he estimated the shark that bit his leg was about seven feet long. Wakeman suspects he was attacked by Caribbean reef sharks.

Borrego said he expects Wakeman to make a full recovery. He had his stitches removed last week and said the shark attack victim was “healing well.”

Wakeman said he will be more careful when working near the water from now on. He said he “got a little lazy” after ferrying fishing gear back and forth from the dock to the boat, which makes regular fishing charter trips from Stuart to the Bahamas.

Before the fall, he said he jumped three feet instead of cautiously approaching the boat.

“I wasn’t really scared at the moment. “I just knew I had to get out as quickly as possible,” said the 24-year-old. “Luckily, I’m here to tell the story.”

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

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