BOSTON (WAND) – A shark attack survivor punched the fish in the gills to get away.
The Associated Press reports the attack happened on Aug. 15, when William Lytton was swimming in water off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. A sudden pain in his leg made him realize a shark was attacking him. Thinking quickly – and remembering what he saw in a nature documentary – he hit the shark in one of its most vulnerable places, causing it to let go.
He swam to shore from 10 feet out and called for help before someone caught his wife’s attention. Medical professionals helped get him to the beach parking lot as he started to lose consciousness from blood loss.
Lytton spent two days in a coma as he went through six surgeries. Doctors had to add 12 pints of blood to his body.
The shark luckily failed to hit critical nerves and veins – sparing Lytton’s life – but doctors had to take pieces of shark teeth out from the wounds. The AP report says bandages covered as many as hundreds of stitches, which held together damaged muscles and skin.
Lytton could have to go through another surgery and weeks of rehab work before he fully recovers. He told the publication he’s grateful to have lived.
Lytton is a professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He’s currently receiving treatment at Spaulding, where people seriously injured in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing recovered. More medical attention could happen in New York.
That encounter was the first shark attack in Massachusetts since 2012, per AP. Biologists are trying to learn what type of shark was involved.
