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09/24/2010 Caleb Kauchak ( Virginia )

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alb
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Re: 09/24/2010 Caleb Kauchak ( Virginia )

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VB teen talks about shark attack 18 year old was bitten twice

Jason Marks
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A Virginia Beach teenager has an incredible story to tell. Friday, he survived a terrifying encounter with a shark. It happened Friday in Sandbridge.

It was a day at the beach three friends won't soon forget.

"I thought that would never happen," said Adam Wilson. "When we got there, it did not even cross my mind that we could potentially be in danger."

Friday, 18-year-old Caleb Kauchak and his buddies were hanging out at Sandbridge.

"We were down at a place called Porters Island," Kauchak said. "Me and my friends go surfing down there a lot."

They were standing next to their boards when they felt something in the water brush up against them.

"He said 'there is something out here with us' and I couldn't even finish my next sentence, before it grabbed my ankle," Kauchak added. "I kind of felt a little bit of a thrashing."

"From the waist down, he was covered in blood," Wilson added. "It was pretty hectic."

"I immediately jumped on my board to get my out of the water and as I did I felt my board lean back," Kauchak said. "I felt a sharp pain in my knee and then after that it let go. It was just a quick bite and release."

With help from his friends, Caleb was able to get back on the beach.

"I looked down and I can't even see the cuts, because I saw blood pouring down my leg," Kauchak added.

Rescue crews say he was attacked by a shark. His knee and ankle are now bandaged. He had to get 51 stitches.

"I was just hoping I wasn't going to lose a leg or not be able to move my leg," Kauchak said. "I feel real lucky that I can still move my leg."

"I guess because where we live, we don't' think about it," Wilson said. "It happens so rarely. We're thinking it's never going to happen to us."

No one ever saw the shark, not that anyone wanted to, but the fear of what's lurking in the water isn't going to stop Caleb from going back out.

"I will eventually go out, just not anytime soon," Kauchak said. "It will probably be next summer before I do."

Bruce Nedelka with the Virginia Beach Department of Emergency Medical Services said this is the first time in many years that an incident like this has happened. Nedelka thought it was a small shark that bit the teenager.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news ... ark-attack
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alb
Posts: 1569
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:41 pm

09/24/2010 Caleb Kauchak ( Virginia )

Post by alb »

Surfer treated for suspected shark attack off Sandbridge

The waves weren’t so hot as Caleb Kauchak and his friends paddled out off Sandbridge on Friday. So the 18-year-old decided to goad Poseidon, the sea god in Greek mythology, into sending some better surf.

“Smite me, oh mighty Poseidon!” he shouted.

The response he got wasn’t the one he was expecting. A s he stood in chest-deep water next to his surfboard, Kauchak felt a searing pain as something took a bite out of his ankle. He jumped onto his board and felt another wave of pain as the creature clamped down on his knee, he said.

When it let go, Kauchak said he paddled to shore as fast as he could , limped onto the beach, plopped down in the sand and looked at his shredded flesh .

He didn’t get a good look at his attacker, but he’s pretty sure it was a shark. Medics confirmed his injuries are consistent with those a small shark would inflict.

If it was , it would mark the first shark bite reported in Virginia Beach since 2007, when one bit a curator in the leg in a pool at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. In 2001, a shark fatally attacked a 10-year-old boy a few blocks from where Kauchak was bitten Friday.

Only four shark attacks have ever been recorded in Virginia waters, according to the International Shark File on the Florida Museum of Natural History website.

Medics got the call around 4:20 p.m. Friday and responded to the beach near the 3300 block of Sandfiddler Road, said Bruce Nedelka, a division chief and spokesman for the Department of Emergency Medical Services. Until then, there hadn’t been any shark sightings or incidents in the city this summer, he said.

Vince Minnich, who is visiting Virginia Beach from Ohio, said he was sitting on the deck of his beachfront rental when he saw Kauchak’s friends running from the water. He called 911 and grabbed towels to wrap Kauchak’s injuries.

“He had cuts straight across his knee, just a good chunk of meat ripped out of him,” he said. But “he was conscious the whole time.”

Paramedics took Kauchak to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, where he was recovering Friday evening. During an interview from his hospital bed, he said he’d probably just need stitches.

“It was the worst pain of my life,” he said. But “I’m not going to be paralyzed, so I’m good.”

Kauchak’s surfing companion, Tyler Christopher, 19, said he was also attacked, but emerged with just a ripped swimsuit.

“You’ve got a good story, and I’ve got some shorts to frame,” he said to Kauchak . Plus, “chicks dig scars.”

Kauchak said his encounter won’t keep him out of the water. He’ll surf again, just probably not in Sandbridge .

“I still don’t believe it,” he said . “I feel lucky in the fact that I’m not losing a leg or paralyzed.”

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/09/surfer- ... cid=mr#rfq
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