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The Shark Attack of Harold Brandner |
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| Date of Incident: |
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February 15,
2008 |
| Time of Day: |
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17h00 |
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| Victim Information |
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| Name of Victim: |
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Harold Brandner |
| Sex of Victim: |
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M |
| Age of Victim: |
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25 |
| Injury to Victim: |
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Left foot bitten required 25
stitches. See Pictures |
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| Location Information |
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| Country of Incident: |
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USA |
| State or Area: |
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Florida |
| Exact or Nearest Location: |
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200 yards south
of Ponce de Leon Inlet's south jetty. Volusia County
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| Activity Information |
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| General Activity |
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Surfing |
| Detailed Activity prior to incident: |
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I was riding a wave and jumped off
at the end in about 6-7 feet of water. I pushed off
the bottom to hop back on my board. On the way up, a
shark hit my left foot and chomped into it. |
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| Species Information |
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| Species: |
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Blacktip or Spinner suspected |
| Species Length: |
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60 - 72 inches 5 to 6 feet |
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| Description of incident: |
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Attack Survivor -
Harold Brandner
I've been an avid surfer and I always had
prepared myself for the possibility of getting bit
by a shark, but it was still shocking when it
actually happened.
I was riding a wave and jumped off at the end in
about 6-7 feet of water. I pushed off the bottom to
hop back on my board. On the way up, a shark hit my
left foot and chomped into it. It let go after a
second or two and I jumped up on my board and rode
the next wave to shore on my belly. I'm surprised at
just how calm I was, but I've always known that you
have to stay calm in situations like this and
prepared myself accordingly.
So I get out of the water and see that my foot was
bleeding pretty good. I left a nice trail of blood
from the water to my car. I threw my board in my car
and drove about 100 yards to where a beach patrol
officer was pulling someone over. I pulled next to
him and he said to hold on because "I'm kind of busy
right now". So I opened my door and stuck my bloody
foot out and said "I got bit by a shark". That got
his attention fast!
I got onto the back of his truck. He takes pictures
for the shark bite database and starts to wrap my
foot up to stop the bleeding. I got a little dizzy
from the shock/blood loss so I got a little oxygen
to make me feel better. After that I drove myself to
the hospital and checked into the emergency room.
All the doctors and nurses that walked by came to
check out my foot and were like "ooooo cool a shark
bite!". I thought that was pretty funny. They gave
me 25 stitches and some pain killers and antibiotics
and I was on my way.
I've been on crutches for 4 days, but the pain is
starting to subside and I can put a little weight on
my foot now. The doctors said I was lucky because
the shark came very close to tendons. It mainly got
the fleshy part between my heel and big toe. That
took 20 stitches. It also split open my 3rd and 4th
toes, which took 5 stitches to close, and gave me
some minor lacerations on the left side of my foot
and my other toes. The beach patrol guys said it was
probably a black tip or spinner shark since those
had been sighted lately. And probably about 5-6 feet
since it got my whole foot with one bite.
And yes I plan on surfing again as soon as I'm
healed :)
Regards,
Harold Brandner
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| Injury Picture: |
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All the details and pictures of this shark attack are the
property of Harold Brandner
Harold Brandner provided this information to Shark Attack
Survivors to share with you.
