Re: 09/24/2011 Charles Wickersham ( Florida )
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:53 pm
Heroic rescue saves Longboat Key man after shark bite
MANATEE - Seven young people went out on a Dorado outboard Saturday for a day of spear fishing and lazy times 5 miles off the northern tip of Anna Maria Island.
That all seven came back alive took some heroic effort by six of them.
At 3 p.m., as he bobbed in the water next to the boat catching his breath from a dive, 21-year-old Charles "CJ" Wickersham of Longboat Key was attcked by a 9-foot bull shark that swam up from below.
"I saw the commotion under him," said lifelong friend Connor Bystrom, owner of the boat. "He was splashing and freaking out. All of a sudden he was screaming for help. I saw him punch the shark in the face. I turned to our friend, Max Garza, and we gave each other a look like, 'This is serious' and we both dove into the water. There was a 10-foot diameter cloud of blood around CJ."
The shark had bit Wickersham on the outer part of his left thigh, leaving a gaping wound from his knee to his hip. His flesh literally flapped on his leg, Bystrom said.
"You could see his femur," he said.
Thanks to quick thinking by his six friends, who tied off the wound with a tourniquet to halt the extensive bleeding, called 911, called Wickersham's parents and kept him conscious and alert while racing him to a waiting ambulance at the Rod & Reel Pier.
Wickersham is out of danger today at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.
"These six people saved my son's life," said Ells Wickersham, who said her son required five units of blood and has had one surgery so far to clean up the wound area. "There are all heroes."
The six on the boat with Wickersham were Kiera Dunn, Oceanna Beard, Katie Mattas, Lee White, Garza and Bystrom.
Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/
MANATEE - Seven young people went out on a Dorado outboard Saturday for a day of spear fishing and lazy times 5 miles off the northern tip of Anna Maria Island.
That all seven came back alive took some heroic effort by six of them.
At 3 p.m., as he bobbed in the water next to the boat catching his breath from a dive, 21-year-old Charles "CJ" Wickersham of Longboat Key was attcked by a 9-foot bull shark that swam up from below.
"I saw the commotion under him," said lifelong friend Connor Bystrom, owner of the boat. "He was splashing and freaking out. All of a sudden he was screaming for help. I saw him punch the shark in the face. I turned to our friend, Max Garza, and we gave each other a look like, 'This is serious' and we both dove into the water. There was a 10-foot diameter cloud of blood around CJ."
The shark had bit Wickersham on the outer part of his left thigh, leaving a gaping wound from his knee to his hip. His flesh literally flapped on his leg, Bystrom said.
"You could see his femur," he said.
Thanks to quick thinking by his six friends, who tied off the wound with a tourniquet to halt the extensive bleeding, called 911, called Wickersham's parents and kept him conscious and alert while racing him to a waiting ambulance at the Rod & Reel Pier.
Wickersham is out of danger today at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.
"These six people saved my son's life," said Ells Wickersham, who said her son required five units of blood and has had one surgery so far to clean up the wound area. "There are all heroes."
The six on the boat with Wickersham were Kiera Dunn, Oceanna Beard, Katie Mattas, Lee White, Garza and Bystrom.
Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/